Confessions Take Time
by Fandom Girl Writer
Summary: Bruce Banner is your fellow scientist and professionally you are his boss but it the worst word you can use to describe your... Relationship. You are best friends first and foremost but what happens when your meddling sister makes you realise your true feelings? And what do you do when it seems like Bruce might return your feelings? Relationships are tested. Set over Age Of Ultron.
1. Book 1: Chapter 1

Bruce Confession Short Story:

"Hey Bruce, I bought your coffee. Unless you want to leave it and refuel on sleep like a normal person?" You ask, hinting at his abnormal science marathons. He'd been learning the habit from Tony. You loved Tony, him being one of your best friends, but everyone who knew him, knew he was prone to no sleep, no food and surviving on coffee when he had a science marathon. Bruce was becoming the same and you walk in with coffee the way he likes it as he wakes up.

"Hey (Y/N). Did I fall asleep again?" Bruce asked, cringing. If it weren't for you, he probably wouldn't take care of himself properly. You were the person to go to when Bruce wouldn't stop working and to be honest, you didn't mind. You actually really liked it. It was fun. Of course, having an actual job was better but knowing that you were that person, like Pepper was to Tony, it made you smile. Sometimes, you had to stop yourself from getting caught up with him in a whirlwind of science. His excited smile when he realises something about the project he's working on and his unintelligible scribbles on any piece of paper he could get his hands on. You'd taken to keeping a pad of paper with you at any time.

"Yep. I don't know how long you went for this time, because I was on holiday, but I was called back early for you." You admit, remembering the call from Pepper. She tried to take care of them both, but she could barely manage Tony. You'd set up a call protocol with JARVIS that if no one else could get Bruce away from the lab and to go to sleep, you would be called, no matter where or when you were. Your phone was always with you in case of these cases which happened quite often. The same incident had happened this time when you were on holiday in Spain and had gotten the call. There was a 6 hour time difference so it had been 10:00 in the Tower, it was 4:00 for you in Spain when you got the call. You got on the next flight available and gave away your ticket to the football game with a bit of money to the hotel owner. It was a thrill in Spain but you were needed back in the Tower. "JARVIS?" You ask, hoping the AI made a record.

"Dr Banner has been working in the lab for 72 hours, only taking various coffee and toilet breaks." JARVIS informed to a cringing Bruce and angry you.

"72 hours! Seriously Bruce? Bloody 3 days! With no breaks? For God's sake! I can't leave you alone for a minute can I?" You shout, your anger bubbling over as you put your head in your hands. "You know what? Just go have a shower and sleep. I will check on you and if you aren't in bed, I swear you will regret it." You threaten to an apologetic Bruce. You love him but he needs to take care of himself more than his projects. "I'll put everything away, you know I am the only one here who can actually make out your scribbles." You mutter, walking over to him.

"Sorry (Y/N), I just was in the middle of this amazing project about…" Bruce carries on talking about his project as you guide him to the showers and lay everything out for him, including his clothes and a spare brush. He looks a mess, but you just nod, adding in ideas and handing him the pad of paper as he scribbles more ideas. When he's finally in the shower, you make your way down and drink the coffee you brought for him. You had rushed here as fast as you could the second you'd gotten off the plane. Even your bags were in the lab by the side. You knew Tony would let you stay the night if things got too late for you to get back to your flat. He always did. The coffee gave you a boost and you managed to clean the lab in Bruce's shower time as he came wondering back in looking much better. "Hey (Y/N), how's it going?" He asked, looking ready for another science marathon with you ready to collapse on the stool next to him.

"Fine. Just had to rush back from Spain at 4:00 then basically time travelled backwards to get here and get you in the shower." You summarised, your tone as bitter as the coffee you finished.

"Sorry, I just had…" Bruce started to apologise again, but you cut him off.

"Amazing project, I know. You told me. But right now, you need to sleep and so do I." You admonish him.

"But I'm ready now. I'm showered and dressed and I can just get a coffee." Bruce pointed out as you gave him a look.

"No. If I have to start my job again so soon, I want to have some sleep and I know you do too. Now, are you going to go or am I going to have to drag you kicking and screaming?" You ask, your tone leaving no room for argument.

"Fine, but I won't actually sleep you know." He pointed out, still trying to fight you low key.

"Then I'll sedate you." You say, as you manage to get up in your tired state. Bruce ran to help you and you gratefully put an arm around him as you make your way up to the stairs. You'd made a thing of walking up the stairs to try and stay healthy.

"So how was Spain?" Bruce asked, still supporting you as you stumble up, one stair at a time.

"You mean the time I spent there?" You ask rhetorically, smiling at Bruce's apologetic look. "Yeah it was great. I saw so many wonderful stalls and got a taste of some proper spice." You laugh, knowing that a lot of the food wasn't as spicy as people make it out to be. "But I especially loved the people there. They were so kind and everyone I asked for directions gave them straight away." You smile remembering the elderly couple with their granddaughter who thankfully spoke enough English to help you. "I did miss a football game, but I don't mind. Had to get back for you didn't I? And the smile that lit up that hotel owner's face when I gave them my ticket and money to buy another was worth it." You tell him, your smile lighting up your face in the process as Bruce watches you.

"You gave up your ticket to the hotel owner?" Bruce asked, wonder written across his features as you grab the banister to steady yourself.

"Yeah, I was rushing out of the hotel, I couldn't just leave the ticket in the bin or something. It took all of my courage to approach them and give them the ticket." You recount, remembering trying to psyche yourself up to approach them in the first place.

"I'm so sorry I made you leave early. I should've gone to sleep." Bruce apologised again as you smiled at him.

"It's fine Bruce. You've apologised several times already, that's why I love you, so kind." You say without registering what you said properly.

"You love me?" Bruce asks, his confusion obvious and if you were a little more aware and awake, you might've noticed the glimmer of hope as well.

"Course I do, you're my best friend. I know you've got the Avengers and all, but I do count you as a friend. My bestie." You laugh, joking with him. Your head is aching and you feel woozy but you know that you just need to get Bruce to bed and then you can rest yourself. Bruce is silent after that and you get to him to his room as you try and wake yourself up enough to get to your room. You collapse on the bed and fall asleep, lulled into dreams of Spain and the football game seeing Bruce there with you. The beeping of an alarm clock wake you and you hear JARVIS talking.

"Miss (L/N), Mr Stark would like to talk to you." JARVIS repeats when it becomes clear that you hadn't heard him.

"Ok, give me, 10 minutes." You say trying to make proper sentences. Your head is still woozy and you can't think properly.

"I will inform Mr Stark, Miss (L/N)." JARVIS says in reply.

"Thanks JARVIS." You mutter, not expecting him to hear you. You manage to pull the covers off of you and crawl out of bed to splash enough cold water on you to make you wake up. You go for jeans and a simple butterfly t-shirt that had a beautiful pattern. It was given to you by your sister and one of the few clothes she's ever willingly given you that were hers. You love and treasure it and its one of your favourites. You choose a simple ponytail and brush it quickly before the 10 minutes are up. Tony being Tony takes your words literally and actually times you. You manage to get your boots on and are out of the door just before Tony comes down the hallway. "You wanted to see me Tony?" You ask, trying to stay upright after almost falling flat on your face from your rush.

"Hey (Y/N)! How've you been? How was your holiday?" He asks, wrapping you in a hug that you gladly reciprocate. Tony may be an ass sometimes, but he's still your best friend, just like you consider all of the Avengers. Although that may not be reciprocated, you don't mind. You would still do anything for them.

"Hey Tony. I'm great. My holiday was fantastic, but it did get cut short by the call I got about Bruce from Pepper. I missed my football game but I did see all of the tourist destinations like the Royal Palace and La Concha, I saw but thankfully did not participate in the Running of the Bulls." You recount, leaving a gap in the conversation for Tony to barge in.

"Aw, that would've been fantastic if you ran as well." Tony says, his smile widening at the thought.

"No it wouldn't! I would've been crushed in the first 10 seconds!" You say, remembering how scary it was but seeing the appeal at the same time. Tony just 'meh's' and you tap him on the arm. "Anyway, I also went to the Aqueduct of Segovia, it was amazing, the monument is so well kept and in the setting sun it was so romantic. There was a couple who proposed to each other there! It was so cute." You gush, remembering the perfect setting and how beautiful it was. "I also managed to squeeze in a quick visit to Cuenca and saw the cliffs, trying to manage my vertigo." You say, remembering the locals bringing you to the edge. You got so scared and your entire body was tingling with thrill or fear, you couldn't really tell. "Yeah, like I said, I missed my football game but gave my ticket and the rest of my money to the hotel owner who'd been so amazing to me." You say, smiling at the thought. You'd told this story about 3 times already, but you didn't tire of it.

"That's the (Y/N) I know, so sickeningly sweet." Tony quipped, his smile turning into a laugh when he sees your face.

"Thanks." You deadpan and tap him on his arm again as you walk to the main area where everyone's hanging out. As you walk in everyone notices you and calls your name or smiles in your direction. But the most noticeable is Thor's booming voice.

"Lady (Y/N)!" He calls drowning everyone else as he strides across the room to envelope you in a huge hug. You can feel him crushing your bones and squeezing the breath out of you but you still try to move your arms to go around him to represent some sort of hug and that you aren't doing anything against him.

"Thor, I think you've killed her enough." Natasha quipped, sitting on the sofa, trying not to laugh.

"Sorry Lady (Y/N), I sometimes forget my Asgardian strength." He apologises and let's go.

"It's alright Thor, I don't mind. I'm glad you're happy to see me." You say, not wanting to hurt the adjusting Asgardian's feelings. He beams at you and you know you've said the right thing.

"Hey (Y/N), how was your holiday?" Steve asks coming up to you to hold the conversation. He doesn't like to make the first move for some reason so you always have to be the person to hug him first. So you do, and he politely responds, keeping his arms around your neck instead. It is pretty awkward but you don't mind. Steve is just too kind to hug a woman. That isn't his mother, you add in your thoughts.

"It was great, but I've just explained the whole thing like twice already, ask Tony. He'll tell you won't he?" You say, turning to Tony, wanting breakfast. He nods and goes to the main stage, in front of the T.V. and starts to talk. You smile at his antics and move away from Steve to go to Clint.

"Hey Clint, what's up?" You ask, hugging him as well, the archer was another one of your best friends. You felt like the entire Avengers were your best friends but you didn't want to assume.

"Nothing much, I'm just going to train or finally fill in the mission report Fury has been on my ass about." Clint responded, after they pulled apart from the hug.

"Not going to listen to Tony's warped stories about my holiday?" You ask, laughing as you hear him tell them about you riding a bull.

"No thanks, I'd rather hear the correct ones from you later. Plus I've already finished the last of the Coco Pops." He says, earning him a gasp as you run to the kitchen to check. Being from England you love them and brought them here when you got your job here. Tony was kind enough to always supply you with enough here but then you'd introduced Clint to them and he'd become addicted as well. It had become a constant morning battle for the last of the Coco Pops and this time he'd beaten you. You frantically search the cupboards and find nothing making you run back out to Clint who was standing there laughing.

"You pig! How could you? I've just had to suffer a week without them and you leave no Coco Pops for me?" You shout, tapping him on the arm as he laughs harder.

"You snooze, you lose." Clint stated simply as he walked off with you shouting obscenities after him.

"Pig." You mutter walking back into the kitchen to find something else to eat. Bruce sees you and starts to laugh. "Shut up Bruce." You say, tapping his arm as well. It's a normal thing around here for you.

"Sorry, I just haven't seen you so mad about Coco Pops before." He says, as you smile as well.

"Well I have missed out on them and was looking forward to them." You defend.

"It's a good thing I got another box then isn't it?" Bruce says, pulling out another box from the cupboard next to him. You gasp in delight and rush to hug him.

"Yes! Thanks Bruce!" You shout, engulfing him a hug. He manages to stay upright and hug you back with buttery fingers from his toast. "How did you know he would take the last of the Coco Pops?" You ask, after you've pulled away.

"Because he's Clint. And the amount you both eat anyway, you would need another box." Bruce quipped, earning him another tap.

"Yeah whatever." You dismiss, too focused on the Coco Pops as you slip back into our routine and pour yourself a bowl of the chocolate rice. "You coming?" You ask, gesturing back to the main area where Tony was still talking.

"Sure, let's see what Tony has warped about your trip." He smiles at you as he gets up from his seat to follow you. You sit next to each other on the already squished sofa, trying not to spill your cereal. Tony is already busy talking about how you got proposed to making you choke on your cereal.

"Proposal?" You choke out. "Idiot, not me! There were others there and they proposed to each other in the romantic setting of the Aqueduct of Segovia." You set the story straight as Tony just shrugs it off.

"Same thing." He says, as you roll your eyes.

"What else has he said?" You ask, wanting to set it all straight.

"You rode a bull." Natasha says.

"You met the Royals in the Royal Palace." Thor says, with wonder in his eyes, believing what Tony says, not fully understanding that Tony was joking. "Were they in regal clothing?" He asks and you almost hate to break the illusion.

"You also swam with whales at La Concha. And fell off the cliffs in Cuenca." Steve added, with a smile on his face as Thor turned with horror on his face. Steve was becoming adjusted to the 21st century and was learning how to make this stuff up as well. Thor, not really. He had taken Loki back to Asgard and came back for a visit, and hadn't gotten used to 'Man of Iron's' humour yet. Or Capsicle's it seems.

"I hadn't heard that part. Are you alright Lady (Y/N)?" Thor turns back to you and you wince while Bruce is chuckling behind you. You set down your cereal and tap Bruce behind you without looking and speak to Thor.

"Thor, I'm sorry but none of that actually happened. Tony and Steve were joking." You say, spitting out Steve and Tony's names with venom and a glare at them. Steve has the manners to apologise and Tony still just shrugs. "Seriously Tony? You're not even going to apologise?" You ask him, your arms folded as he just shrugs again. "Idiot." You mutter turning back to Thor who is still thinking.

"So, none of what Man of Iron and the Captain said about your trip was true?" He confirms as you almost wince again.

"No." You drag out, as he speaks again.

"It was all a jest?" He asks, and you glare at Steve behind him.

"Yes. Sorry Thor." You say, as Thor goes silent. "I'll tell you guys what happened properly another time. Now, I need to go work and make a few phone calls." You say, getting up, bringing your cereal with you. "Sorry Thor." You apologise, feeling bad for not falling off the cliffs. "I'll deal with you two later." You glare at Steve and Tony as you walk out.

"I'll help. Got nothing better to do." Natasha adds, making you turn around and smile gratefully at her.

"Thanks. They deserve it right?" You ask and Natasha nods. You have a friendship with her but it isn't nearly as strong as any of the others. But you are still grateful it is there. You walk into the elevator and start to eat some more of your cereal leaving them all there, talking to JARVIS about what you could do to get them back. "What do you think JARVIS? I could steal Cap's shield. But Tony is a harder target." You ask the AI as he automatically takes you to the lab.

"I agree Miss (L/N)." JARVIS says. "The shield is Captain Rogers' most prized possession. The armour would be Mr Stark's but he has several always changing safeguards on it." JARVIS informs as the cogs in your brain start to tick.

"I've got an idea JARVIS, but please tell Tony to stop listening in and if Steve is there as well, tell him I'm ashamed of his behaviour and expected better." You say, catching them both off guard as they lean closer to the screen. They both move back immediately and bump their heads on each other. You smile as JARVIS tells you what happened and talk normally with him leaving out the prank until the doors open.

6


	2. Book 1: Chapter 2

Bruce Confession Short Story P2:

"I've got an idea JARVIS, but please tell Tony to stop listening in and if Steve is there as well, tell him I'm ashamed of his behaviour and expected better." You say, catching them both off guard as they lean closer to the screen. They both move back immediately and bump their heads on each other. You smile as JARVIS tells you what happened and talk normally with him leaving out the prank until the doors open.

You walk to your office and sink into the chair, heaving out a blissful sigh. You get started on some paperwork and plan to make phone calls to your sister and mother to let them know you were fine and what happened. You lean back in your chair talking with your sister. "Hey Sis," You begin but are cut off.

"My name is Liv. You know I hate it when you call me 'Sis'." She moans over the phone while you laugh.  
"Yeah I know you hate that, it's why I call you it." You point out, hearing her sigh at your answer. "Anyway, I just got back from Spain yesterday." You tell her.  
"Aw, how was it? I forgot to call, but I thought it was on Saturday that you were coming back?" She asks, making you mentally cringe.  
"Yeah, it was amazing and it was meant to be Saturday, but my job called and I had to come back." You say, making up the excuse quickly so you don't say it was because of Bruce. She doesn't actually know that you work with the Avengers and have done for a long time because, A) She would freak out. B) She would ask you a dozen questions. C) Your job is classified. D) It makes you smile to know she can't ask you about your job but you can ask her about hers.

"I still don't get why you won't actually tell me what your job is." She asks, making you smile again.  
"Because it's classified. I've told you this." You defend, your smile only growing.  
"Yeah right. You've never had a problem telling me classified stuff before. You just don't want to tell me." She says, sussing out your actual reasons making you laugh.  
"There's my sister, Liv the new age Sherlock. You're right but I still can't tell you. Just because you'd freak out and go detective." You say, giving in, teasing her. She'll either doubt herself or let it go.  
"Just because you love Watson." She quips back and you smile.  
"Anyway, Spain?" You ask, wanting to move on.

"No I don't care anymore. Tell someone else." Liv speaks, them both reverting back to their younger years despite her being the older sister.  
"Who's the older sister here? Plus, I was going to ask you to tell Mum. And if you don't get the deets then you're screwed, just saying." You say, dragging out the word 'deets'.  
"Idiot." She mutters over the phone making you smile. "And since when do you say 'deets'?" She asks, mocking the word.  
"Since never, it sounds horrible when I say it. Other people say it and it sounds cool but when I say it, it sounds ridiculous." You moan, dismissing her insult. It was almost like a nickname between the two of you. Insults didn't mean a thing.

"That's because the people who say it are cool. You aren't." She quips again and you laugh, feigning hurt.  
"Ow, Liv! That hurt, how could you? Stab me through the heart why don't you?" You say, mocking her.  
"Shut up, you idiot. Now tell me about Spain, what happened? Meet a guy? Good or bad?" She asks, and you can virtually feel her leaning closer to the phone, being the town gossip she is.  
"Ew. Seriously? No, no guys. Can I not talk to you without talking about a guy? Just because you're married." You speak, bitter.  
"Aw, is someone bitter?" She asks in a condescending tone.  
"Is someone being patronising?" You quip back, smiling at the childish nature of the entire conversation.  
"Ok, this is going to end with me hanging up. Now, give me the 'deets' as you so eloquently put it so I can get back to stuffing my face with chocolate." She says, her craving kicking in.  
"You're so weird when you're pregnant. It's like I'm 10 again." You comment, your memories swirling in your mind.  
"Says the woman who's never been pregnant." She mutters back.  
"I don't have a husband!" You shout back, trying to reason with the hormonal, crazy woman on the phone.  
"So?" She asks. "He was my boyfriend when I got pregnant." Liv speaks, making you almost gag.  
"I know, but you covered it up with a rushed wedding and then announcing the baby! And seriously Liv? Do you want me to get pregnant just to relate to you, the hormonal crazy woman?" You ask, your disbelief rising.  
"No, but it would make me laugh." She admits, making you sigh and her laugh.  
"Idiot." You mutter.  
"Likewise." She speaks, her mood obviously improving after hearing your annoyance.  
"Ok, I'm going to hang up now and let you face the wrath of Mum yourself." You smile, knowing her mood would turn foul then.  
"You do that I swear, you will hear my scream all the way over there." She threatens and you smile.  
"Fine." You concede, smiling and tell her what happened.

The conversation is over and you hang up with a smile. Talking to your crazy, pregnant sister always cheers you up. It makes you laugh just to think of her poor husband Jason, your brother in law but still, you didn't really know him all that well. But you knew enough to know he was a good guy and probably didn't deserve her erratic and hormonal sister. When she was acting normal, yes, when she was being crazy and hard to deal with, no. "Ah well, not my problem." You dismiss, your smile growing wider at the thought.

"What's not your problem?" Bruce asked, peeking his head through the door. You move your feet off of the desk and sit up properly in the chair.

"Hey Bruce, what's up?" You ask, happy to see him.

"Nothing much. What's not your problem?" He asks again and you smile at the thought. Bruce sat down in the chair opposite you and you tilt your head, deciding he can know more about your life.

"My crazy, hormonal, pregnant older sister." You state in one sentence. Bruce is obviously trying to fight a smile and you don't even bother. "Bruce, you can smile. It's funny." You say, relaxing him enough so that he smiles as well. That was one of the reasons you liked Bruce so much, he was always kind and considerate, something you don't see too much in people these days. He would stifle his own enjoyment so as not to offend you. "So, how much more work have you got done?" You ask, you'd been gone for the entire morning. He must've got some stuff done right?

"Not much. I'm still stuck on this one experiment. It's only the paperwork, but we're supposed to fill in our predictions before we know what happens. I don't know, because we've never done it before." Bruce admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand and you sympathised. It always happened and you had a trick for this by now.

"Yeah, that's happened to me. What they really want is to know how much you know. What I do is do the experiment, see the results and divert a bit from the actual result and write that as my prediction, but if you don't want to do that then tell me what the experiment is." You offer, remembering all of the times you had done that to the useless paperwork Fury had set for you. Okay, it probably wasn't useless, but it did feel like it when she was filling it out.

"Sure, you can come do the experiment. It's a simple testing of the cell but we've frozen them in Liquid Hydrogen to test them like we did before." Bruce told her as they started to walk out and go back to the lab. They kept talking about the experiment going into the lab and went with her first suggestion of doing the experiment first. The Liquid Hydrogen was extremely cold and had to be handled with extreme care. But it was also heavy and needed both of them to hold it. When they finally moved it to the actual holder, you had to stay with it while Bruce dipped the cells in them and set them out. You were trying to hold it but you were faltering.

"Bruce." You say simply, trying to warn him before you dropped it. Your face was pressed to the side of the container as you tried to support it. It was slipping and falling on top of you. Bruce turned around at the mention of his name and immediately runs to support you. You manage to get it back upright and you shiver at the cold. He warms you a hot water bottle and passes it to you with a blanket as you press it to your face, your hand on top of his.

"(Y/N)?" Bruce asks, hoping you would release his hand. You see what he means and apologise before releasing it and sitting on a stool, using the hot water bottle as a pillow, letting it lull you into a dream state as you lose all sense of time. You wake to Bruce standing there bending down to see you as you lay on the table. "(Y/N)? Are you ok?" He asks as you wake up.

"How long was I out for?" You asking cringing at the thought. That was embarrassing.

"About 2 hours." Bruce replies nonchalantly. You sit upright at the words wondering how you slept for that long.

"What? What has happened? I must've missed so much, I've got to catch up!" You start to panic, getting up and putting the hot water bottle back in its place and rushing back to your office before you're stopped by a pair of calm but strong hands on your shoulders. "Bruce?" You question.

"It's fine, I did everything. Your paperwork is stacked in your office ready in two piles. One to be delivered and the other for you to fill out. You didn't get any calls except one from your sister who only laughed and guessed that you were asleep when I told her that you were occupied. She said she'd message later. You're fine. Don't worry." He reassured, looking into your eyes as you tried not to blush and maintain eye contact. You always felt awkward like this. When people were rude to you and stared you down, you wouldn't back down. You would stare them back and fight with your words, but when Bruce only looked at you with kindness and care in his eyes you felt uncomfortable. You didn't not like it, but you still felt awkward because you felt heat creep up to your cheeks.

"Thanks Bruce. You're one in a million." You smile at him as he releases your shoulders, knowing you won't run off. You instantly sink into the stool and turn back to him as he goes back to his desk. "Wait, what happened to the experiment? And what's the time?" You ask, trying to get a grip on your bearings.

"The report is in your office, I used your advice on the predictions and the time is about 4:00." Bruce tells you as carries on with his work and you smile at his kindness, getting up to check on your sister.

"I guess I should talk to my sister, she's going to call me nonstop otherwise." You roll your eyes, smiling at the thought as you distinctly hear Bruce laughing behind you and smile again. It was nice to hear him let loose every now and then. He used to always be so distant and awkward around you but he'd gotten used to you and you considered him to be your best friend. And what was the best thing about your friendship was that you weren't the person to look after Bruce, he looked after you as well. You often needed to keep an eye on him but he helped you normally. You walk into your office to see your phone loaded with messages from your sister about the 'mystery guy on the phone'. You face palmed and let out an "Ugh." Knowing you'd have to deal with this one way or another. You decided to go out and not have Bruce potentially hear it. You walk back into the main lab and call to Bruce. "Hey, I've just got to run an errand in town. I won't be long." You call to him.

He calls back an "Ok!" To let you know as you run to the elevator and back to your room to find some clothes. You couldn't be bothered to actually unpack so you just chucked random clothes on the floor before finding some nice boots to wear and your make up supply. You don't know why you'd taken it to Spain, it was hot it practically melted off your face. The most you'd worn was a bit of lip gloss. You had a strict rule about lipstick, you didn't have any. You hated it, it never suited you and you preferred lip gloss in any situation. You applied a little to cover up the fact you were totally jet lagged and tired, while redoing your hair to make it a half ponytail letting it fall and not bothering to do it again when you forgot to a strand that went into your eyes like a fringe. You checked in the mirror and pulled your jacket on to make sure you actually looked decent and smiled. Not too bad.

You run out of the Tower asking JARVIS to inform anyone asking for you that you are out and aren't going to be back for a bit. Walking the streets of New York you smile at the people around you. There are children in the park you pass all the time who are playing on the zip wire, your favourite. You smile at the various street vendors as you make your way to your favourite café. You tried so many when you first moved there and then you found this café and loved it so much. Everyone there knew you and were your friends. Your ordered your normal smoothie and sat down in one of the available seats at the back hoping to avoid attention as you called your sister. "Hey sis. What's going on?" You ask, racing yourself for the major reaction bound to come.

"OMG! LITTLE SIS! HAVE YOU FINALLY GOT A BOYFRIEND?" Liv shouted over the phone making you jerk your head away from the phone, almost crashing into the wall. Everyone looked at you and you mouthed an apology. When you put the phone back to your ear you heard Liv babbling away. "I mean, I heard him and thought this is obviously not (Y/N) so I was about to hang up but then he said it was your phone and I thought who is he? He sounds cute! And then I asked who he was and he said he was called Bruce and I thought that is so cute, such a nice name and Mum would totally approve. Then he said you were occupied and I thought OMG! Are you two sleeping together? And then I realised it was only you sleeping so I said I'd call back, and omg, am I glad you finally picked up!" Liv finished her babble and you almost scream, you mouth hanging open.

"Liv! Seriously? I don't have a boyfriend!" You shout, again attracting the attention of the other customers. Crap. "Sorry, I just, it's my sister." You whisper, holding the phone to your chest shielding it from the sound and they turn back around as you lift the phone back up. "And ew. That was what you thought, the second a guy picks up my phone? They're sleeping together? That's just wrong. God, I hate having to deal with you when you're pregnant. Tell Jason I feel for him." You quip, rolling your eyes with a huge sigh.

"Oi! Don't be so rude!" Liv laughs at her. "And really? He's not your boyfriend? He sounded so cute! And kind!" Liv complimenting and you could practically hear her drool over there.

"You're married remember." You sigh at her as she goes silent, probably thinking of Bruce.

"Piss off, I can still appreciate another guy." Liv retorts. You just roll your eyes again. "So, wait why were you sleeping?" She asks, her voice confused as she tried to put together the pieces. "A one night stand?" She asks, her voice completely nonchalant as yours is gone.

"What? No, nonono." You repeat turning it into one word as you realise what she meant. Your relationship with Bruce was nothing like that, that was not it at all. "No." You repeat again, not being able to say anything else. "It's not like that. I was sleeping because I was jetlagged." You make up, not being able to tell her what you were actually doing otherwise she would know you worked at SHIELD. "And he is just a colleague, not like that. Not at all." You confirm again, reassuring yourself more than anyone else.

"Ok, whatever you say. Just saying, just because he's your colleague, doesn't mean fun isn't out of the question. And is he tall?" Liv hints, obviously not believing you. You just sigh, knowing she never would. She was Liv, and that meant she was always right, no matter what the actual facts told her.

"Yeah, he's taller than me, why?" You ask, wondering where this is going. Knowing Liv, probably not somewhere you want it to, but then again, it was your sister and you could never refuse her and you always wanted to know what she was thinking because she was not nearly as easy to read as one might think.

"Just thinking if you did get together, because a tall and short couple, it would be so cute and amazing to take pictures of. Jason is about the same height as me, only because I got stuck with the tall gene, so if you and he are a tall and short couple, it would be so sweet. I really want to meet this guy, he seems perfect for you and so kind." Liv spoke, explaining her thoughts on Bruce and you immediately regretted going to sleep again for the millionth time. You knew it was going somewhere you didn't want it to, but then again, you couldn't help but feeling a smile creep on your face at her words. You immediately started to fight it and admonish yourself. Bruce would never feel something like that for you, he isn't the sort of person to fall in love simply because of his low self-esteem issues.

Although you dash those thoughts whenever they arise, telling him he's handsome and anyone would be lucky to have him, which they would be, you know he still just thinks you are lying to make him feel better. You do love those moments though, being his friend instead of his sassy work colleague, those moments when you're having a talk about something other than science. You talk about anything and everything sometimes, especially when you finish your work early. Those rare moments when that happens. "Ok, moving on quite quickly, what did you actually call about?" You say, not wanting to dwell on the subject knowing if you changed it quickly, you could make her forget. She was crazily pregnant, it was worth a shot, and you shrugged.

"I was just calling for some company and asking, what do you think for the baby? Gender neutral like black, brown and green, or blue and pink?" She asked, making your jaw drop.

"Liv! I walked out of work to call you. I thought the baby had come or something!" You say, trying not to raise your voice. It obviously wasn't true, but you knew that you couldn't justify your rage by saying that you were embarrassed to be around the same colleague she thought you were sleeping with.

"I wouldn't be bothering you if the baby had come. I wouldn't need to. You'd be bombarded by Mum, and I would just send you one text message." Liv paused for emphasis. "In your face." She stated, laughing at your interest.

"Ha ha. Very funny." You deadpan. "Ok, fine. You don't even know what the gender is because you didn't want to so just get one of each and put them both on the child at different times. It doesn't matter and its gender neutral without the extra money." You offer, knowing your prices as you had been looking for some as a present. "And company is going to have to wait until I can finally get back for another holiday right after Spain. So you might have to wait sis." You shrug, knowing how much you'd always wanted to see Spain and how you loved being there. You were so caught up in that you didn't realise you would need to take another holiday to meet your sister in England.

"Aw come on sis. You're not going to support me in my time of need?" Liv tried to persuade making you feel a bit guilty but you knew you couldn't do anything about it now.

"Sorry sis, but you've already done this once, you don't need me right? Anyway, you can just imagine me there, laughing at your pain." You say trying to move back into a joking mood. If she tried to persuade Fury she might be able to swing at least a week back in England to meet her niece or nephew.

"Yeah I guess. It won't be the same though." Liv spoke, sounding properly dejected for the first time in ages since you'd moved to America.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, I can try but there's not guarantee I can get there." You speak the truth hearing her sigh as you carry on swirling your smoothie with the straw. It was a habit and you hadn't even drunk any of it.

"Just let me talk to your boss, I'm sure I can play the pregnant card. He must be a vampire if he still doesn't let you off." Liv moved on, laughing.

"I have no doubts you would be able to. But that's exactly why I don't want you to talk to him. Pregnancy and female things like that don't work too well with him. Although I probably should just to see the look on his face." You muse, laughing as you think of his face as Liv told him about her pregnancy.

"A stiff is he?" Liv asked, her love for fandoms coming back into play.

"Yep, but he's not as non-violent as stiffs. He's like Tobias. The stiff never really goes away no matter how dauntless he becomes." You reply, knowing that you had barely managed to finish the movies. You'd watched them with the Avengers, snuggled up into a blanket while watching them. The Avengers had been extremely interested in the fighting and gunshots and main violence of the movie while you were silently wiping away tears at the deaths. They all congratulated you on your choice of movies as you marathoned the movies. Natasha in particular, liked them. The books, you'd barely had time for as long as it took you to read them. At every spare moment you had your nose stuck in those books but you hadn't even had the time to read Four - The Divergent Collection. "But I don't think he ever found his Tris. Or fully recovered." You hinted, trying not to spoil the book. You knew that with all the spare time Liv had, she'd been reading the books and had cried a lot about the deaths of the fictional characters. You weren't going to lie, you had shed a few tears in the lab at the end of a chapter and had to have been comforted by Bruce who'd already read the books and understood your pain. You sipped your smoothie soothingly.

"Oh. Maybe not then. Don't let me ever talk to him that's sad. You always go for the weird bosses don't you?" Liv teased, enticing you as you sat there for ages talking to her about anything and everything before finding it was 6:30.

"Crap! It's so late, I swear I'm going to get fired!" You shout, quickly getting up while still on the phone to Liv and dumping your rubbish in the bin. You'd long since finished your food and smoothie and had just been sitting there absorbed in your talking trying to keep it quiet so as not to aggravate the other customers and applauded when someone proposed. It was an odd place but apparently it had some sort of meaning to them. You didn't really press any further being absorbed back into the conversation with Liv telling you that you should get a boyfriend.

"Oh my God! It's actually so late! I'm so sorry I hadn't realised the time!" Liv spoke, her concern evident. She'd loved talking to her sister again, but she didn't mean to get her late or in trouble.

"It's alright, if I rush I can maybe get back before they notice or something. I doubt anyone will have noticed. Man, life has been so rushed since I got back. I had to rush back from Spain and then I had to sort out the problems at work and then catch up on sleep which was interrupted and then I had to get through the day when I fell asleep and then I went out of work to call you and now I'm late again!" You moan as you run back through New York talking Liv who was listening, just as rushed as you.

"I'm so sorry. Are you alright? Just keep running sis, I would as well but I'm too fat to." Liv replied, trying to get her to laugh. It worked.

"Thanks sis. Ii just need you to keep talking to me. I mean, I'm going way too fast to be normal. I swear when I get back, I'm going to be breathless and collapsing. It must be adrenaline." You figure out, being the scientist you are.

"Well, the chemical is in us for a reason right? Tell me, you're the scientist." Liv spoke, trying to get her to keep talking and take her mind off of the horrible situation they were in.

"Yeah, adrenaline helps us in many ways.Adrenaline, or epinephrine, is a hormone and neurotransmitter produced by the adrenal glands that helps in the sympathetic nervous system's "fight-or-flight response" to situations that are high-stress, dangerous or physically exhilarating." You say, remembering the definition off by heart.

"Like this one then." Liv states, somewhere on the verge of laughing and panting.

"Yeah, exactly." You reply, that being all you have the energy for as you make the same noise as her, somewhere on the verge of laughing a panting from how tired you are. You both laugh/pant as you carry on running, almost back at the Tower.

"Sis? Jason's here, I'll call you later." Liv says, obviously about to hang up.

"OK, see you later." You say, panting as your feet slap the pavement.

"Text me and tell me what happens ok?" Liv commands before getting up with grunts and struggles.

"Ok, don't do your back in now. You're almost there." You say, laughing as you come to a stop to change directions to go back to the tower.

"I know, bye sis." Liv replies, not quipping or saying anything rude in response so you can go.

"Bye." You echo after her. The tower is right there, as tall as it is towering over you. You stop, hanging up and putting the phone in your pocket before entering and tip-toeing to the lab where it is deserted. You enter your office and sit down with a sigh. At least you can get some work done, before you retire to bed. But first, you decide to text Liv to tell her everything went well. As the text gets sent off with the normal ping sound accompanying it, you lean back in the chair and pick up the pen to start on the paperwork. You get through about 5 forms before JARVIS interrupts you.

"Miss (L/N), Mr Stark is having a party tomorrow and would like to invite you." JARVIS informed as you look up.

"Ok, thanks JARVIS, I'll be there, just send the details to my phone." You organise with JARVIS as you set back to work.

"Also, Director Fury would like to see you first thing tomorrow." JARVIS notified as you felt your stomach drop. Oh, crap. What did you do? It must've been bad to catch the attention of Fury.

"What about?" You ask, dreading the answer.

"It wasn't specified." JARVIS replies and you decide you'd much rather prefer an answer.

"Ok, thanks JARVIS." You say, dismissing the AI before turning back to your paperwork. Your hands work on autopilot as you fly through the stack of paperwork, most of them only needing a signature. Your mind is too worked up to think about anything else, your thoughts whizzing around in your mind, not slowing down. You walk back to your room at 8:00, managing to have done enough work to satisfy yourself. You'd give them to Fury tomorrow when you actually got up and managed to pick out an outfit that was suitable. You had nothing to wear for professional situations.

7


	3. Book 1: Chapter 3

Bruce Confession Short Story P3:

"Ok, thanks JARVIS." You say, dismissing the AI before turning back to your paperwork. Your hands work on autopilot as you fly through the stack of paperwork, most of them only needing a signature. Your mind is too worked up to think about anything else, your thoughts whizzing around in your mind, not slowing down. You walk back to your room at 8:00, managing to have done enough work to satisfy yourself. You'd give them to Fury tomorrow when you actually got up and managed to pick out an outfit that was suitable. You had nothing to wear for professional situations.

You woke up to "Miss (L/N), you are getting late for work and your meeting with Director Fury." JARVIS told you, the mere words shaking you enough to make you wake up and rush to the bathroom, teething chattering with the cold.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap." You repeated consistently for the next 10 minutes as you got ready in record time, choosing to go for a trouser suit combo, relaxing with the top as you chose a calm worded t-shirt saying "Whatever!" In huge lettering as you covered it up with a lab coat. Your hair was tied up in a ponytail like usual and you went the extra mile and tied it into a neat bun. You went for the flats and ran out. You ran into the elevator and asked JARVIS to take you to the lab, you had to make sure you had the paperwork you organised last night. You rushed past Tony and yelled an explanation from your office, saying morning as well as telling him what happened. He understood and you said you'd see him when you got back from the meeting. You ran back again, hiding your make up supply as you rushed past him back into the elevator, holding your paperwork to one side, trying to manoeuvre the bag open, asking JARVIS to go a bit slower due to a 'technical fault', allowing you more time to apply the light lip gloss and just brush your lashes back a bit with some light mascara and eyeliner. Nothing too fancy, but part of your normal routine. "JARVIS? Could you keep my bag safe while I go to this meeting? I've got to get ready for this party later and I need the make-up you know?" You ask, trying to get JARVIS to understand, like a friend.

"I understand, just place the bag in this container. You have 15 minutes to get to Director Fury as you spent 5 minutes collecting your paperwork." JARVIS replied, a metal tube, just big enough for her bag appearing in front of her as you zipped it shut, still balancing the paperwork on your hip to put it in, but the paperwork started to slip as you saw the tube disappear back into the wall, you yelped trying to keep it in your hands.

You yelled for JARVIS to "Go faster please!" So you could get some help at least. He speeded up and it threw you off balance and you dropped everything, it all landing on the floor, you sinking with it as you saw what happened. The doors opened and Bruce was about to enter before seeing what happened, and bending down to help. He picked up as many papers as he could, handing them back to you as you put the correct papers together, trying not to mess them up. Your hair had strands that were too small to go into the ponytail and they normally strayed from their places, fixed back on your head but that was later into the day. However, your rushing made them fall out of place and go into your face as you picked up the paperwork. They got stuck on your lip gloss and you tried to brush them out of the way with your shoulder as you organised the paper Bruce had picked up for you on your knees. "No, um that one goes there and you go there, I numbered you." You say, your habit of talking to yourself coming back as you stress over where the papers go. Then your hair goes back into your face and you try to brush them out of the way again, huffing when they didn't work.

You suddenly feel a warm hand on your hand moving the hair out of the way as you work, making you freeze. You almost look up but let it happen and relax into the hand, knowing you don't want this to stop. You can't help it after a moment of blanking, you slowly look up to see Bruce gently tuck the hair behind your ear and then retract his hand quickly as he obviously regrets what he did. "Sorry." He apologises, as you feel your hair fall back out as you smile at him before looking down and picking up the paperwork, getting up with it in tow, as Bruce shyly looks away. He kept looking up at you as you check your paperwork again, before looking back at him.

"Sorry Bruce, I was just going to this meeting with Fury and thought I should deliver the paperwork as well." You explain, trying to fill the silence. It wasn't too awkward but it certainly wasn't comfortable, Bruce obviously felt embarrassed at his earlier actions. He looked up at your words and nodded along politely. You tried to keep your breathing pattern steady and hoped that your stomach wouldn't rumble. You hadn't eaten all morning and you needed some snack but there was no time. You just hoped it would at least wait before it rumbles and embarrasses you completely, in an already awkward moment.

"Of course, sorry Tony called me to the lab and I was just going when I saw you." Bruce explained as you both side stepped each other to go into the elevator. This was really awkward.

"Ah, ok. Well, you better get going." You say, about to continue when JARVIS spoke up as you moved out of the elevator.

"So must you Miss (L/N). You have 8 minutes left before your meeting with Fury." He tells you as you close your eyes, for longer than usual, counting to 10. You weren't actually, but you were trying not to snap at JARVIS who was only trying to help.

"Thank you JARVIS." You say stiffly, obviously not thankful. "Well, I better get going." You gesture to the hallway to Bruce, about to turn around as he stands in the elevator. "Thanks for your help with the, um paperwork." You falter, gesturing to the paperwork, as you blank.

"No problem." Bruce says as the doors close and you turn around, walking to Fury's office. You knock gently and wait until you hear Fury's unmistakeable voice.

"Come in." He orders and you obey walking in as he lifts his head from some other paperwork and sees you. "Ah, Miss (L/N). I wanted to talk to you, but you are," He stops for a moment checking his watch. "5 minutes early." He announces and you feel the urge to just drop on the floor. Everything this morning had been so rushed and it didn't need to be. You could've eaten breakfast as well, but you thought it was too late. You managed to stay upright but you couldn't help but feel annoyed.

"Yes sir, I thought I would hand in my latest paperwork I was working on last night." You say, dumping it on the side as you try to control your anger. Fury seems in a good mood so you don't want to anger him or make him rethink whatever he is thinking.

"Oh that's good well done. But I actually wanted to talk to you about something else. I heard you were actually supposed to be coming back tomorrow from your trip in Spain and yet you are here. Why?" He asked, and you were confused. This was obviously for a reason and he knew why you had come back quickly but he wanted to hear you say it for some reason. If this was some sort of test you didn't know what purpose it would serve.

"I came back because of a call I got from Pepper that Dr Banner wasn't sleeping and was on another science marathon. I am normally the one who manages to get him to bed and perform normal functions. So I rushed back to make sure he gets sufficient sleep and cleaned up." You tell him, your normal sense of humour still intact. Although Fury was an all-around intimidating man, he was still a man. And he gave her no reason to be afraid, apart from the horror stories told about him. You chose not to believe those though.

"And because of this, you didn't get much sleep yourself is this true?" He asks, and you eye him suspiciously, your heart starting to hammer in your chest. What was he getting at here?

"I was a bit jet-lagged but I was fine." You assure him, hoping that he wouldn't say anything to Bruce about it. It wasn't his fault, he was just like that. You understood that, in the few times you actually got to go into the lab. You were mainly advising and going on random science marathons with Bruce. You obviously knew where to draw the line and stopped before things could get too crazy or too much coffee.

"So you didn't fall asleep in the lab in the middle of an experiment while Dr Banner carried on the experiment? And then you went out for two hours to clear your head. Four hours in total." Fury spoke, his tone turning into the normal reprimanding tone, making you panic underneath a calm mask. You knew this couldn't work, you were going to get reprimanding at some point. And how were you ever going to see Liv now? But then you noticed his small smirk, it was still there. If he really was reprimanding you, he wouldn't be smiling. This was trick of some sort.

"I don't deny I did fall asleep, but that wasn't because of looking after Bruce, that was because of," You stop, realising what you've said. You were getting panicked and loud, and you referred to Bruce with his name instead of professionally. Crap. "Stress." You finish lamely, trying to regain control over your emotions. Getting loud mouthed with your boss wouldn't work if you wanted some more holidays for Liv. Just keep calm and think of Liv and Bruce. You thought to yourself, hoping it would work.

"What stress have you been tackling lately?" Fury asked, sounding more like a therapist than the scary Director everyone told her about.

"My sister is pregnant sir, and I have already used up my holidays for Spain, which was interrupted. I don't think I will be able to be there for her and she is terrified." You tell him, your voice void of anger and panic. Only care and love for Liv shows as you try to fight the tears. This whole meeting was an emotional rollercoaster. You really wanted to be there for Liv, but you didn't want to push it any more than you already had.

"Well, what I called you in here for was to congratulate you on your commitment to the job and offer you a promotion but now that I've heard of this 'stress' in your life, I'm rethinking my decision." Fury spoke and your heart dropped. Was he going to fire you? Was he going to take away the promotion? You weren't all too worried about that but if you had the extra money, you could at least have more money to save up for the next flight you might be able to swing with your higher status. You kept silent as Fury thought, simply standing there, trying to keep calm. "Would you like extra holidays to visit your sister in return for shortening you trip to Spain?" He asked and you almost drop. You feel faint as you process his words. What was he talking about? Was this real?

"I'm sorry sir? In return for shortening my trip? Does that mean I get a few days to visit?" You ask, putting the pieces together in your mind. You could visit Liv! This was amazing! But what was the twist? There had to be one. "But what's the twist sir? I'm sorry, I don't mean it like that, but why would you let me go visit my sister only because of the fact I helped Bruce, sorry Dr Banner. He's a friend, I would've done that anyway, even if I didn't work here." You say, trying to tone down what you did, knowing there must be a twist.

"I understand what you mean and I usually wouldn't ask outright but it seems I have no other choice." Fury smiled at you and you can't help but smile confusedly back. It was something good at least. "I would like you to join the Avengers." He says, dropping the bombshell on you and this time you sit down. Your legs were shaking. This would change everything. Liv would know your job, our Mum would find out as well, you entire family would and you would be going on potentially life threatening missions.

"I don't understand sir, what would I have to offer to the team?" You ask, trying to sort through your thoughts. Why would he offer you that sort of position?

"You're one of our lead scientists and the team seem to already accept you. I would like you to work closely with some of our lead scientists but with alien technology left over from the war to protect ourselves against another alien war." Fury tell you and your brain is working double time to process the information. You would be a lead scientist! And part of the Avengers! And you would be able to visit Liv! You couldn't see many downsides at all, just the fact that this meant so much more responsibility you didn't know if you were ready for.

"Thank you for the offer Sir, please may I have some time to think it over?" You ask, wanting a second opinion before you actually accepted.

"Of course but I do need an answer soon." Fury tells you as you smile politely and leave the room. You walk the hall, not really knowing where to go as you think about the potential promotion. Is it for the best or not? Would you be able to fill the position or not? Would you really be able to protect Earth properly? You couldn't think of anything but the doubts slowly filling your mind as you thought of the immensity of the situation. You entered the elevator not really hearing JARVIS as he asks where you would like to go. You just absent-mindedly reply the lab automatically and then pick up the make-up bag as he gives it back. The doors open and you walk out, ignoring JARVIS's worried questions, not hearing them.

"(Y/N)?" A voice echoed in your mind bouncing off of the thoughts that are accumulating in your mind. "(Y/N)?" The voice says again as you start to register someone is talking. "(Y/N)!" Someone shouts, gripping your shoulders as you snap out of your thoughts, surprised by the sudden contact.

"What?" You look up, your voice a whisper and hoarse from non-use, to see Bruce looking at you, his hands gripping your shoulders, trying to shake you out of it. Your eyes are wide and shining with tears as you try to blink them back. Bruce was looking at you with concern written on his features. You take moment to orientate yourself as you tried to remember what happened.

"(Y/N)? Are you alright? You didn't answer when I asked you." Bruce tells you when you don't respond. His hands are still on your shoulders and you remember what happened with Fury.

"Yeah sorry. I was just thinking." You replied, wondering if you should tell him what happened.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He asked, tilting his head thoughtfully as you swallow, your legs aching as you longed for the nearest chair.

"Um, just something that happened with Fury. Our meeting was 'interesting' to say the least." You hint, your mind still frazzled as the words echoing in your mind.

"What happened?" Bruce asked but as you opened your mouth to respond he seemed to read your mind and interrupt you. "Sorry wait, do you want to sit down?" He asked, his hands leaving you and simply gesturing to the nearest stool.

"Yeah thanks. That would be great." You say, sitting down. As the pressure leaves you, you sigh, hunching in the seat. "How did you know?" You ask, as you long to kick the shoes off.

"You just seemed tired, I thought a seat would be best." Bruce shrugged it off as he sits next to you.

"Yeah well, guess what?" You ask as Bruce looks at you, waiting for an answer, knowing it was a rhetorical question. "Fury asked me to join the Avengers." You say simply, the words feeling like they came from someone else. Bruce's face mirrored yours earlier when you first head the news as well. "I know." You relate, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "I'm just terrified because I don't know if I can fill this position, but he's also letting me visit Liv in England for my niece or nephew. I just don't know what to answer. I'd be working on the alien tech with you and Tony instead of research into cells like before and I would be actually experimenting instead of just filling out endless paperwork. I don't know what to say though." You confide in Bruce who has remained silent and thoughtful throughout your explanation.

"He would still let you visit your sister. The only thing about this choice is you might not be able to protect yourself as one of the Avengers. They are all trained fighters and I of course have the other guy." Bruce simplified, letting you really look at the problem from its basis.

"Yeah, I'm not good enough for the Avengers. I can't fight, or do any of the stuff you guys do." You say, all of your doubts coming back.

"No, it's not that. You would be one of the best Avengers. There's a reason Fury asked you, but is he going to train you?" Bruce defended, as you felt a small smile curl up at the side of your mouth. You still didn't believe him, like he never believed you, but you understood his motives.

"Alright." You say in a disbelieving tone, like he does with you when you try to cheer him up from his low self-esteem.

"I mean it!" He tries to defend as you laugh a little.

"Of course you do. I believe you." You say again, in the same disbelieving tone you had before.

"Well, you obviously don't." Bruce rolled his eyes.

"And why do you think that is?" You ask, challenging him.

"I don't know." He shrugs, as you roll your eyes, mimicking him. "Why don't you?" He asks, as if this is a joke.

"Because you never believe me when I tell you that anyone would be lucky to have you." You retort, your voice rising.

"Because they wouldn't." He states simply. "I am a monster, forget what the press say!" He starts to raise his voice, the sound making you steel yourself. "The second I lose control again and hurt somebody, I will be on the run again!" Bruce yells, getting up and moving closer, angered by what you said.

"Bruce, how many times do I have to tell you to get it through your thick skull? You are not a monster." You reassure him, your voice, although quiet, powerful and controlled, taking over the room, leaving no trace of the echo of the previous yell that bounced off the walls.

"How do you know?" He asks, defeated. He slumped back into the stool, his spirit defeated and his voice reduced to a whisper as he swallowed nothing, scared of his outburst.

"Because, I have worked with you for a long time. I've gotten to know you and I know about who you are. Not the other guy, he isn't here. He's not you, not all of you. People are more than one aspect of their personalities. I am not just frustrated, I'm sad. Because you are not understanding who you are, no matter how much we assure you of it. I can be funny and rude, irritating and pissed. I am more than just one aspect of my personality and so are you. The other guy is just one aspect of you, he is your anger and you fight to control him just like everyone does!" You say, your voice rising as you try to get him to understand. "You are not just the Hulk! You are Bruce Banner, the amazing scientist and friend I have come to know and love! You're funny, kind, considerate and so much more than the Hulk!" You finish, your hands waving around in the air as you try to illustrate what you are saying. "Why can't you see that? No one else sees just the Hulk but you! No one that matters. You need to look past the fear of your past experiences and know that you are doing all you can to try and control him and what might happen when he comes out." You add, your fierce friendship with him not letting you stop your speech without saying what you actually want him to understand.

"You are a lot better than you make yourself out to be as well." Bruce whispers, after the lull in the argument passes. The room is scarily silent after the previous yelling that went on a moment before.

"Thank you Bruce." You blow out a breath, leaning into him as you stand up to hug him. It's not just him who needs it but you as well. You are both overwhelmed by what just happened. The whole argument is the first one that you've had that isn't over science or ended in a second.

"Welcome." He says into your shoulder, meaning to say the full phrase but not being able to for fear of his voice cracking and tears following. You understand anyway and you both cling to each other, using each other for support as you stand there, your legs weak but gaining strength from each other. You both swallow and blow out shaky breaths, trying to calm down. You don't know what possessed you to do such a thing, but you know that it was worth it. Although it had unsteadied your friendship a little, you knew you'd bounce back from it. He was shaken and to be honest, so were you. You didn't know what had happened, why this had happened and how but you knew that it would be alright. Standing there, supporting and being supported in return from Bruce was just another indicator it would be alright. You don't know how long you stood there, but you knew that it felt longer than it actually was. You eventually pulled away, looking Bruce in the eyes and knowing he wasn't ready to address what happened, so you gave him space.

"I'm going to my office." You say, pointing behind you before walking in the same direction. Your office welcomes you with open arms as you sink into our favourite chair and pull out your phone. Maybe you could play a few games and try not to break down. You turn on the screen and see a message from Liv. You look at it, and it just says two words. Common, probably used all the time but right now, you couldn't bring yourself to lie to it, like you'd done so many times before. "You alright?" It said.

6


	4. Book 1: Chapter 4

Bruce Confession Short Story P4:

"I'm going to my office." You say, pointing behind you before walking in the same direction. Your office welcomes you with open arms as you sink into our favourite chair and pull out your phone. Maybe you could play a few games and try not to break down. You turn on the screen and see a message from Liv. You look at it, and it just says two words. Common, probably used all the time but right now, you couldn't bring yourself to lie to it, like you'd done so many times before. "You alright?" It said.

"No." You replied, one word that said so much. You couldn't lie right now, you were too emotionally and mentally drained. Exhaustion was the main feeling taking over your battered body.

"Why not?" The words popped up on the screen a few moments later and you looked at them. You couldn't reply, because you didn't know. You needed to talk it over so instead of texting, you decided to call her.

"Liv?" You asked as soon as she picked up seconds later. You didn't know why but you needed to check it was her and hear her voice again.

"Yeah, why? What's wrong?" She asked, confused and you couldn't help but break down. It started as a sigh but turned into a sob, tears accompanying it moments later. Your long eyelashes caught the droplets and returned them to your cheeks seconds later when you blinked, creating twin tears. This was a normal occurrence for you and didn't do anything but make you feel worse as the tears travelled, making your whole face wet. Liv heard the tears and got worried. "(Y/N)? What is it? What's wrong?" She asked, sounding like your mother.

"I don't want to lie anymore." You decide, taking a shaky breath and trying to think of the words to tell Liv what you do. "Liv, I'm going to tell you what I do for a living." You say, hoping you'll follow through with the stated intent. "I am a SHIELD scientist. Yes, the one that works with the Avengers. And yes, I know the Avengers. The Bruce you were talking to the other day? Dr Bruce Banner." You say, answering most of the questions you know she is waiting to ask.

"Seriously? That's so cool! Is that why you never told me? It was that classified? Are you one of the lead scientists? And what do you work on? And what is Bruce like?" Liv asked, the bombarding of questions obviously anticipated by you. You needed something to remind you how amazing your life is and how you shouldn't be crying. "But most importantly," She says as you are about to answer, making you think she's going to ask about the guys on the team. "Why are you upset?" Liv asked, making you swallow hard. This was something she should've anticipated.

"I am a lead scientist, I can't tell you what I work on and yeah, that is why it was classified. But, why I'm upset is a whole different matter and an incredibly long story." You say, sighing as you mentally recount what happened throughout the day.

"I got time. I am a fat pregnant woman with nothing else to do except wait for the baby. I'm bored as and need something to spend my time with. Plus, you just gave me the perfect excuse to also not go out with the neighbours. I mean honestly, they don't understand that I am pregnant. Meaning no alcohol." Liv complained and you could hear her eye rolls from the Tower.

"Fine, but I hope you're ready for this because this is one hell of a story." You warn, blowing out a breath. "I got called back from Spain by Pepper Potts, the CEO of Tony Stark's business and his girlfriend, yeah I know her as well. She manages Tony, while I manage Bruce. He and Tony usually go on these science marathons and normally I am there to stop them from spending days without proper food, water and sleep. But this time I was in Spain and no one could get Bruce to move, so they called me. I came back and cleaned up the lab, made him take a shower and get some decent sleep. The next morning I caught up with the rest of the team, Tony, Thor, Clint, Natasha etc. Then I made my way down to the lab and spent the day on paperwork, you and Bruce. Then, today, I got woken up by JARVIS, Tony's AI system who is the best. He told me that I was late for my meeting with Director Fury, my boss, the most intimidating guy you will ever meet. I got there in record time, after an awkward encounter with Bruce." You add, meaning to think it and not say it.

"What awkward encounter?" Liv interrupts and you curse inwardly.

"I'd rather not say." You counter, hoping she would leave it. Of course not.

"Come on! I've been amazing with this bombshell you decided to drop on me and you reward me with that? Nothing?" Liv moans and you give in easily.

"Alright, I was putting on some light make-up in the elevator and dropped my paperwork everywhere. The doors opened and Bruce was going down to the lab at the same time. But he picked everything up as I sorted it out. Then my hair got in my face as it is in a bun, you remember and I kept trying to brush it out of the way with my shoulder as I ordered my paperwork but then Bruce brushed it away with his hand and it stayed there. I relaxed into the warmth and didn't look up until I found myself blanking at everything and saw Bruce who immediately retracted the hand. Obviously we got up and I said thanks and went to Fury's office." You recount, revealing more than you meant to but dismissing the thought. What was the point of hiding anything now? You were telling her everything, so why hide details.

"Omg! That's so cute!" Liv squealed before regaining her composure. "Soz, carry on." She said as you waited, a small smile gracing your features as you heard Liv's happiness.

"Then when I got to Fury's office, he said I could visit you with the holidays I didn't use, getting back to Bruce." You stop, letting her take in the information.

"Yes! That's amazing! Man, we got to time this right though, because I want you to be at the birth and still meet your niece or nephew." Liv spoke, probably already planning it in her mind.

"Yeah, but that's not all. He said I could become an Avenger. He wants to promote me." You state simply, quite frankly over that news. What happened with Bruce was much more of a big deal and you wanted her opinion on it.

"Wow! That's amazing! What did you say?" Liv asked, more interested in what came next, her sister senses telling her that the story was far from reaching its climax.

"I asked for some time to think about it and then I left, going back to the lab lost in my thoughts. Bruce snapped me out of it, scared for me and then I told him what happened after we sat down. He basically read my mind. Then it turned into an argument because I thought I wasn't good enough for the Avengers. Then he tried to reassure me that I would be the best for the Avengers and I obviously didn't believe him. He never believed me when his self-esteem was low and I tried to boost it, telling him anyone would be lucky to have him, which they would." You assure, leaving a moment in between, time enough for Liv to interrupt.

"Anyone. Anyone like you?" Liv suggested, leaving you speechless. You tried to say something, only resulting in stammering and 'um'. "Relax. Joke, but seriously. Think about it." Liv says, her tone serious for the first time in a long time. It wasn't angry serious, it was caring.

"Ok." You reply hesitantly, unsure of what else to say. "Then he said I was wrong about anyone loving him. We argued about the fact he was an amazing person behind the whole Hulk thing and he was more than just the Hulk. He's Dr Banner, than amazing scientist I have grown to know and love." You say, quoting what you said earlier. "Then-" You start, wanting to tell the rest of the story before being interrupted by Liv again.

"Wait what? Know and LOVE?" Liv emphasised and you could practically see her eyes popping out of her head. It was normal. You could imagine all of her facial expressions when she spoke, having been so accustomed to them. "You love him?" She whisper-shouted.

"No! I mean yes! I mean, like as a friend! Not like that! I don't think at least." You reply uncertainly, second guessing every word she said. Liv's assumptions always did that to her.

"Uh huh, that makes total sense. Whatever, we'll talk about this afterwards. What else happened?" Liv replied sarcastically, smiling at her younger sister's awkwardness. She remembered meeting Jason for the first time, he was kind but very flirty making her smile a lot yet never overstepping the line. She couldn't deny that she liked him at first sight and the love came later.

"Then after my long speech he assured me of how good I am as well and I thanked him, giving him a hug. We just stood there, hugging for about a minute or so." You finish simply, not knowing what else to say. "Then I came here knowing he wasn't ready to say anything else and called you." You add filling in the gaps.

"Wow, the amount of sexual tension between you two, whoo!" Liv blew out a breath, fanning herself with her hand, making you start to laugh.

"Um, no, no, not like that. I don't know what you are talking about sis, you are going a bit crazy with the whole pregnancy thing you are. You need to lie down." You say, dismissing her comment.

"Yeah, because with a month left, that obviously means I need to lie down in wait. Crap that's what I am doing." Liv realised what she had said, allowing you a victory.

"See? You should listen to me and don't bring up that stuff, I don't need that in my life right now. That is way too much." You dismiss, trying to ignore the fluttering of your heart at the idea of you and Bruce. You don't know what it would be like, and you didn't want to mess up your friendship. You respected and loved it too much to mess it up for a potentially failed relationship.

"Not like that you ass." Liv replied, wanting to talk about this.

"Ass? What happened to your British accent you arse?" You say, remembering how posh she and you could sound at moments. You both had very posh parents and spoke with an accent that apparently was similar to the Queen's although it was probably because you both just were cleverer than the other students.

"Whatever. What I mean is do you like Bruce? Like, do you like-like him?" Liv asked, her mind going crazy with the thought that her little sister could like the Hulk. What made her laugh most was imagining their mother's face when she explained what had happened and how the Hulk was her boyfriend. That was endless fun. She could spend hours of the day just laughing and imagining what would happen in different situations of her telling their mother. But what made her stop was the nature of their argument. Her little sister saw who the Hulk was. That he wasn't just the Hulk. That he was Dr Bruce Banner, the scientist and that made her smile all over again. It was just too cute.

"I don't know. I mean, he's cute and everything and he's definitely the best man I've met in a long time and he is clever, I mean you should see him when he starts to talk about science and then he is too cute when he tries to convince me that he can stay up longer and stuff and-" You carried on, thinking about how great Bruce was and then realising what you were saying. "I mean, he's great but I don't know." You finish, trying to dash the idea instead of fuelling it.

"You mean you're head over heels in love with him and haven't realised it yourself because you are too blind and don't like to think about it." Liv summarised, making your heart skip a beat.

"Yeah, but he's not looking for love or anything. He's too scared of himself for that, even though I keep telling him he's perfect. He's not ready for that. And I definitely won't push him, that wouldn't be fair." You decide, firmly speaking what you thought. You knew it was the right decision, even if it killed you inside.

"Man, why are you so good? That is the correct decision but it isn't the coolest one." Liv sighed, giving in. Why did this happen? Why would this guy be so scared of himself even though he was awesome? She couldn't know but she knew she couldn't pressurise him and her sister to be together when he wasn't ready. It wasn't fair, you were right as much as she hated it.

"Because someone has to be sometimes." You quip, wanting to move on. You needed to think of something else other than your new-discovered feelings for Bruce. You couldn't think about that right now.

"Ha, very funny." Liv spoke, about to continue but was interrupted by JARVIS who spoke up at that moment.

"Miss (L/N), the party is about to start in an hour." JARVIS informed, cutting Liv off as she was about to speak.

"Who's that?" Liv asked, obviously annoyed that he cut her off.

"Oh, that's just JARVIS, the AI I told you about. He's really nice, say hi to my sister JARVIS." You ask, having become friends with the AI. He was one of the first friends she'd actually made around the tower and yes, she did count him as a friend because he wasn't just an AI.

"Hello Miss (L/N)'s sister. How are you?" JARVIS asked, making Liv laugh.

"Hello JARVIS, I am fine, how are you? Sorry, it's just I have never had an AI talk to me before let alone, ask me how I am doing." Liv justified, hoping he wouldn't be offended.

"I understand I can be quite a shock to people speaking to me for the first time. I am well, thank you for asking." JARVIS replied, his tone polite as ever.

"Sorry, but is that a British accent I can hear?" Liv asked, fully aware she was talking to an AI, but not really caring as she spoke politely and happily as ever.

"Yes, I was designed after Mr Stark's butler, called Edwin Jarvis, although Mr Stark used the letters to make an acronym. He calls me Just A Rather Very Intelligent System." JARVIS told Liv over the phone, who you were surprised wasn't actually fainting at this point.

"OMG! This is awesome. Sorry JARVIS, I'm not sure I will be able to get over this." Liv apologised again, still trying to keep her cool.

"I understand Miss (L/N), however I think the proper reason for your disbelieving and excited nature may be your pregnancy. You are becoming hormonal and emotional easily and this could be the reason for your reaction." JARVIS explained as Liv gasped.

"Ok JARVIS, thank you for your input but I think this conversation should stop otherwise Liv might just faint and Jason isn't there." You say, laughing at Liv's silence.

"Of course Miss (L/N)." JARVIS spoke, withdrawing immediately.

"Liv? I need your fashion advice. I need something for this party and your fashion advice because it's the best I know." You ask, knowing she was better at fashion while you just wore something you found comfortable.

"Of course, this is an emergency. Facetime me and then I can see what you are thinking about wearing." Liv ordered, snapping out of it. You smile complying as you walk up to your room, preferring to take the stairs as you fiddled with your phone. No one ever used the stairs and you found it useful for time like this when you wanted to go a bit faster. Not that JARVIS wasn't fast but you felt like going off your own steam would be faster. "Finally! You took your time. Ok, show me the options." Liv spoke, getting straight to business once you had finally worked out what to do with the app to get it to work.

"Um, just warning you, my dresses are quite limited." You say, hoping you wouldn't have to face a lecture from Liv. Hers were worse than your mother's and trust yourself, you had suffered enough of them to know.

"Fine, I'll brace myself but know I can mix and match if I have to." Liv spoke, knowing how serious you were. Your dress collection wasn't the largest or most stylish despite your salary. Simply because you didn't like them and barely ever wore them so you saw no need for a dress.

"Ok, here we go." You say, turning the phone to the wardrobe you'd actually unpacked and picked out the few dresses you have. There is a dark blue one, with ruffles at the bottom, a 40's dress and a lace top covering to the top that was laced with beads to sparkle underneath the light. There was another black one with no jewels but one strap across the left shoulder and it flowed nicely down to the bottom. Elegant, normal but formal and not happy at all. There was another red one that had so many jewels over the bodice that it was practically a disco ball. It had a nice flow but Liv told you to either throw it out immediately or make major adjustments. There was another red one that had different layers of material as it went down to the feet, covering nicely. It had a lace covering like before over the top and for the arms going down to the wrists and had a nice feel to the material, a nice necklace, some earrings, maybe some high heels and Liv deemed the outfit complete. It did take you the rest of the hour to get everything else done though.

You had to wash and dry your hair, letting it fall past your shoulders in the normal waves it came to whenever it was air dried and then brushed to make it softer but still cute in waves. You pinned a few locks back in some sort of style that only Liv knew and applied a bit heavier make up. You still went for lip gloss, not wanting to dry out your lips, with mascara and eyeliner like normal but light red eyeshadow that matched the outfit. You had red heels that gave you a bit of height although not much and you could still walk comfortably in them, although the practice was much appreciated. Once you'd put on the jewellery your sister had bought you years ago, still in the packet, you looked great. The jewellery was a simple but stylish necklace, the silver jewels shining in the light and still highlighting the one jewel in the middle which you kept grasping for comfort. Your earrings were curved slightly in the style and adjourned with the same amount of jewels helping them sparkle as well. You didn't bother with your hands, preferring not to have a ring on or any bracelets. You just cleaned up your nails a bit while waiting for your hair to dry. The skin around your nails was starting to peel off again and you cut it back so it wasn't so visible and made you nails softer with a nice manicure instructed by Liv of course who took the order as an opportunity to do her own nails.

"My work here is finally done." Liv sighed happily, looking at you as you held the phone flipping the camera view so she could see you in the mirror. You looked at yourself and smiled at your reflection. You never really cared before and knew that this was going to get incredibly annoying later in the evening but you also knew that this was the Avengers Tower and you knew them and that they wouldn't mind if you took it all off later and just changed back into normal clothes. But you did like feeling like a princess for a minute, twirling the different layers between your fingers as they hugged your curves.

"Thanks Liv. I couldn't have done it without you. You're the best." You thank Liv who just smiles happily as you turn the camera view back to you and smile back.

"I know I'm the best. I just need to wait this thing out and get my daily entertainment from my awesome little sis who's finally going to get a boyfriend because I made her look so cute." Liv smirked at you while your mouth opened and closed with no words coming out. "Close your mouth (Y/N), we are not codfish." Liv mock scolded, her smile widening as you realised what she'd done. Mary Poppins was your favourite film and you knew practically every line. You mouthed along to most of them and sang the songs off by heart, even the dialogue in between them that went by extremely quickly. So, you always used it against her, not the other way around. That was not how it went.

"I've told you why not. And I will stick to it." You say firmly as you can talking to a pixelated image on the phone.

"I know, I know. But still, he would be mad not to take a chance with you looking like this." Liv complimented in her own way, smiling again trying to appeal to you and get back into your good books.

"Thanks Liv. I know that was a compliment to you." You say sarcastically. "But seriously though, thank for the help. Love you." You say to Liv as you stick to one of your routines. You used to share a room with her and always before you went to sleep before her, wished her a good night's sleep and told her you loved her.

"Love you too." Liv reciprocated. It took her some time to actually say it back and you didn't know if it was simply because of her emotional state because of her pregnancy, or because she was actually getting better at saying stuff like this. You smiled at her before ending the call. You play a few games on your phone before JARVIS informs you the party has started.

6


	5. Book 1: Chapter 5

Bruce Confession Short Story P5:

"Love you too." Liv reciprocated. It took her some time to actually say it back and you didn't know if it was simply because of her emotional state because of her pregnancy, or because she was actually getting better at saying stuff like this. You smiled at her before ending the call. You play a few games on your phone before JARVIS informs you the party has started.

You thank him before making your way to the main area where it was being held and trying not to be nervous and check your reflection a million times in the glass. The doors opened and you let out a breath, walking in to find the party in full swing as you were greeted happily by Tony who was overjoyed that you'd come.

"(Y/N)! How are you doing? So glad you could make it." Tony exchanged normal party greetings as he brought you to the bar instantly, ordering a glass of wine for you as you chatted kindly.

"Yeah, JARVIS had to remind me though. I almost forgot." You admit, and laugh, seeing Tony's hurt look.

"You almost forgot about my party? How could you?" He asked in a mock hurt voice, placing a hand over his arc reactor.

"Well I'm sorry, I had a lot to contend with today. It's been, eventful." You say, blowing out a breath as you reminisce on the day's events. You wanted to stay out of Bruce's way as much as possible this evening. You weren't sure if he still wanted to talk to you or ready to right then. That is, if he was even coming in the first place.

"Tough day huh?" Tony related. "Been there, done that. Know how I dealt with it?" Tony asked, leaning a bit closer. "Alcohol." He spoke, the one word visibly making him smile as you burst out laughing, turning your head to the side to not face him.

"How did I know that was going to be your answer?" You ask, turning back to Tony who just smiled and turned to the bartender.

"Hey, look after my friend tonight. She's had a rough day, make sure she doesn't drink too much." Tony spoke, patting you on the back acting as if you had an alcohol problem.

"If he should be worrying about anyone, it's you." You retort, shifting to face him so he can't pat you on the back. Tony just smiles at you like normal and whispers to the bartender. You shake your head, not bothering to interrupt and just sip gently at your wine. Tony walks away, leaving you at the bar, sitting there thinking about the day you had. Thinking about the events, you wondered how you were still standing. It felt like a hurricane had just passed through. "Man, I need a refill." You mutter to yourself finding your glass was empty. "Excuse me, could I please get a refill?" You ask the bartender who smiles at you obviously knowing something you didn't from Tony but you just ignore it and wait as he fills it and passes it back. "Thanks." You say before starting to sip on your second glass. You had no intention of getting drunk, but you knew that you needed it and it probably wouldn't do much to you as lived in the tower. JARVIS could easily get you back to your room.

"Hey beautiful. Rough day?" A voice asked as you sipped on your second glass. You turned in your stool as he sat next to you and got a beer. Bruce. He was actually there.

"Something like that." You say, going along with his act.

"What happened?" He asked, his eyes boring into yours as he watches you speak. You feel frozen under his gaze but force yourself to speak.

"I hurt someone I cared about. Stupid promotion, didn't know what to do. Confided in him and broke down. Couldn't take it and hurt him accidentally. I feel like crap now, hope he knows I am sorry." You summarise, being vague as if he actually he was a stranger at the bar.

"I think he probably does forgive you. Just a bit shaken up." Bruce told you as you smile at him, your actual personalities shining through the façade.

"Well, I better stay out of his way. Don't want to pressure him." You say, not being able to stay there any longer. This was getting too much. You'd vowed to stay away and look what happened. You just had to get away now quickly before you would start to break down again.

"Wait." Bruce asks as you get up not being able to stay there, taking you glass of wine with you. He holds your arm as you leave, making you freeze.

"Sorry handsome, got people to meet, things to do. The guy I cared about, I can't face him. Not right now, he may have forgiven me but I ain't forgiven myself." You say, your accent becoming more and more rough and American as you pull away. You keep moving holding the glass with both hands as you stride across the room, trying to calm down and blink back the hot tears that threaten to ruin your make-up. You didn't know why, but you just felt so awkward around Bruce now that you knew you liked him. You said you wouldn't force it or make him uncomfortable but you had to learn how to disguise your feelings and hope he wouldn't pick up on them at all. You saw Natasha across the room talking to Agent Hill and walked over, trying to calm your shaking hand. They were both casually dressed, Natasha in a white/black dress that was normal and easy to walk in, her hair in curls around her while her lipstick just made her look even more beautiful. Agent Hill was just letting loose, her hair out as well and wearing a jacket and jeans holding a beer bottle.

"Hey (Y/N)." They greeted as you manage to take a sip of the wine in your hand, forcing the liquid down and relishing the warmth it gave you. You managed a smile more easily then, feeling more relaxed.

"Hey Natasha, Agent Hill." You nod towards the women who nod back before seeing what you're wearing.

"You look very nice. Who gave you the fashion advice?" Natasha asked, knowing how hopeless you were with fashion.

"Thanks, my sister helped me but you guys are dressed so casually and I feel like an idio-" You stopped in the middle of the word, the pieces clicking in your mind. "Wait, did you guys dress down for me?" You asked, furrowing your eyebrows.

"Don't know what you're talking about." Agent Hill said, sipping on her beer, exchanging a smirk with Natasha, confirming your thoughts.

"But why would you-" You stop again, the thoughts clicking again. "Oh my God, you guys are just as bad as Liv. Was this her?" You say, not putting it past her to somehow get in touch with the Avengers just to tell them about Bruce.

"I don't know who Liv is. But have you seen Bruce today? He looks great in that suit." Natasha diverted, making you want to face palm as you drank the rest of the wine.

"Yes, and there's a reason I'm avoiding him." You say, dismissing the subject, hoping they would leave it but they only exchanged looks and you had the feeling this was far from over. As the night went on, you visited all of the Avengers who complimented you on your dress and unusual heels and make-up as you made snide comments, knowing they would all know what you were talking about. This only backfired when she talked to Thor who had no idea what you were talking about.

"Lady (Y/N)! You are wearing a dress, I must say this is different." Thor observed as you saw a poor old man being carried out before him muttering "Excelsior", you only assumed he'd either had a little of the Asgardian alcohol or too much of the normal alcohol.

"At least someone understands." You mutter, walking over, your mood thoroughly sour.

"I never meant to offend. I hope you didn't mean it like that. You look wonderful Lady (Y/N)." Thor quickly backtracked as he saw your mood. You were on your 3rd glass of wine and were a little buzzed but not that much thankfully.

"No, sorry Thor, it's just that the others set me up and dressed down purposely." You say, feeling horrible for making Thor look at you sadly. Especially as he was recently in such a good mood.

"What reason could they have for this?" Thor asked, seeing your discomfort as you smoothed down the dress and fingered your jewellery to make sure it hadn't messed up. You were trying to resist the urge to find a mirror and try to check your make up. Your fingers started to itch involuntarily as you fought it.

"You don't know?" You ask, thinking he would've at least known something about this. "At least it isn't broadcast to the entire tower." You mutter bitterly, still fighting the twitch that was taking over your fingers as you fiddled with the layers of the dress instead.

"Oh!" Thor yelled in realisation. "Is this because of what happened with you and the Doc-" Thor says, practically yelling as you shush him loudly, hoping no one heard that. Thor stopped as you furiously put a finger to your lips.

"Say it quietly. Whisper." You order, leaning down your wine forgotten in your hand.

"Because of what happened between you and the Doctor Banner." Thor finished, talking normally as that was what he deemed whispering compared to his normal tone. "Lady Natasha told me of how you both are in love and wish to court each other but do not have the confidence to tell each other." Thor recounted, making your jaw clench and your nostrils flare, the universal sign of anger. He didn't seem to notice and proceeded to say, "But then the Doctor told me about how you had an argument and how you comforted him like you always do, being the kind and caring person you always were." Thor spoke remembering what Bruce had told him. You could tell the compliments were from Bruce and almost let a grin overcome you. You couldn't fight the small smile that you let come but you were still angry at Natasha. "He told me of how he tried to talk to you and you simply walked away. He was drinking at the bar last time I saw him." Thor told you and walked away smiling proudly as if he'd just accomplished some major achievement. You barely noticed, lost in your thoughts.

Your glass started to slip from your lax grip and you caught it barely preventing the spill of wine everywhere. "Crap!" You shouted, gripping it again and sipping it again, a little more frequently as you thought about Thor's words. Did Bruce like you as well or was that just how Thor phrased it or rather Natasha in this case? You absent-mindedly went to the bar again as you finally put the glass down only to find Bruce downing his shots next to you. "Bruce?" You ask, hesitantly moving seats to sit next to him. You didn't want him to be startled as you spoke his name again, trying to get his attention. "Bruce?" You asked, your voice a little bit louder. He either didn't hear or didn't want to answer as he remained silent. You moved a hand to touch him on the shoulder and placed it gently so as not to startle him. You felt his muscles move as he turned to see the person sitting there placing a hand on his shoulder. You swallowed, all earlier train of thoughts gone. You blanked, wondering why you were there and talking to him when earlier you were giving him space. You swallowed again as you tried to make a word.

"(Y/N)?" He asks, soothing your nerves. He hadn't forgotten you or had been ignoring you, he was just lost in his thoughts and you interrupted him.

"Hey Bruce." You say, giving him a small smile. "I'm so sorry about earlier. I just, I thought it over and I apologise so much, I can't believe I said those things. It was so insensitive and I was just letting my anger take hold." You try to make up excuses, just wanting your friendship back to normal.

"(Y/N)." Bruce interrupts, stopping you with one word. He smiles at you, taking your hand. "I don't blame you for a thing you said. It was true and something I needed to hear. And don't lie. You weren't angry. Emotional, yes. But you every word you said, you meant. I know that. And it was something I needed to hear. Thank you." Bruce finishes, still holding your hand as you find yourself speechless. You can't say a word as he smiles at you. You just stare at him, wondering how he could forgive you for something you said and agree that it was something he needed to hear He was too good for anyone, especially you.

"Bruce," You begin, breathing out a sigh and finally smile to say something. "Thank you. I didn't know that what I said wasn't something you didn't already know. I didn't mean to have an outburst or start to shout, I was just annoyed. Because sometimes you don't see how amazing you can be." You say, tilting your head as your waves move with them.

"Only you see that." He scoffs as you sigh again, rolling your eyes. "Sorry. It's just, I was in the newspapers all the time and all I saw was the destruction I caused all the time. Not just in the battle of New York, but every single time after that." Bruce admitted, using one hand to run through his hair and kept his other hand cradling yours. "Sometimes, it's hard to think that I am on the way to redemption and someone is actually seeing me for me. Not just the Doctor or the Hulk. Bruce Banner." He breathed a sigh, looking away his eyes downcast as he struggled to look at you.

"Well I do. So get used to it. Because nothing will ever change that." You say, trying to lift his spirits and succeeding as he looked up at your words, smiling. "More alcohol?" You ask, gesturing to the bar in front of you.

"Taking a leaf from Tony's book?" Bruce asked, smiling as you get your 4th glass of wine for the night. You were properly buzzed them and so ready to dance.

"Only tonight." You wink at him before getting up and finishing your glass, ready to mingle and meet someone else. Your buzzed self and foggy mind forgot about everything else as you went to the dance floor and starting to dance with the other newer agents you were getting to know. They were obviously invited because they were a part of SHIELD and Tony loved meeting the newbies to suss them out when they were drunk. He wasn't interested in them now, not that he finally had managed to drop the bad habits after Pepper. He would never get over the strawberry blond, but he knew that she wouldn't approve of his flirting with other girls. He didn't have it in him anymore. He just pictured her pursed lips as she looked at him, disapproving of his thinking. However, that didn't stop you from dancing with the girls who were dressed up as well, helping you blend in more. You didn't stick out like a sore thumb with them. You twirled with a male SHIELD agent as you danced together.

It was the 3 of you together as you met a male and female agent who seemed very close. You had only communicated with raised eyebrows and indications to the other as they were free to dance. You were trying to get them together. The only way to do that was to sandwich yourself between them and then proceed to leave them together. You took both of their hands and twirled between them as you danced with them both, making sure neither of them left as you continued to think of excuses to come up with. The male, Rory or something, you weren't sure as he tried to talk over the music, twirled you and you took the chance to twirl him next to the female, Amy who had the sense to take his hand and start dancing with him as you made the excuse you felt sick because of the alcohol. "I'm going to the toilet." You say, gesturing behind you as they barely notice, too wrapped up in each other to say a thing.

You keep up the façade the entire way though, just in case they look back. You make it to the toilet and relieve yourself before checking your dress and make-up again. It is normal and fine, but you fluff up your hair a little and apply another layer of lip gloss smirking at yourself in the mirror, the alcohol making you feel so much better. You feel amazing, the buzz taking over as you walk out, confident even in the heels and see the agents dancing together and smile. You move to another part of the dance floor, not wanting to interrupt and start to dance on your own. It takes 5 minutes for you to become bored and you feel too hot and bothered, taking your jewellery off not wanting to let it fall or get loose as you dance.

You make a quick trip to your room to put the jewellery away and take a little bit of the make-up off so you can relax a little more. You let your waves cover the little gap the jewellery leaves as you head back in flats knowing no one would notice. "Right. Time to go." You say, smiling in the mirror again as you start to walk back, JARVIS automatically selecting the correct floor. The doors open and you head to the dance floor again seeing a cute guy and you let your confidence take over as you go over and introduce yourself. You start to dance with the guy, Kieran and he takes you by the hips. Rationally you would never have let this happen but you were buzzed and not thinking properly meaning you let him kiss you on the cheek obviously making his way to your lips. You obviously began to feel uncomfortable and tried to move away having a bad feeling about that. Then he does something unexpected and pulls you back, trying to serenade you. You swallow, only now smelling the amount of alcohol on his breath and mentally curse the fog in your brain. "This is a little much." You say, trying to pull away hoping he would get the hint.

"Come on, it's just a little fun. I thought a girl like you wouldn't mind that." He said and you instantly knew that he didn't know who you were. "You know, being at Tony Stark's parties and all." He probably thought you were a hooker or something. "You won't mind a bit of fun. Just relax." He whispered into your ear, the breath making you shiver. It was dirty and disgusting and definitely not something you wanted right now or ever with this man. You swallow nervously and try to pull away again as he continued to sway you, making you feel nauseous. You couldn't think of anything to say and felt a few hot tears burn your eyes. You blinked them back, swearing up a storm in your mind.

"Look, I'm not a hooker or something but even still, I think they have standards. I'm going to say this once, I do not want anything from you. So please don't." You say, trying to make yourself heard to his filtered ears. You pull away again as he grips your wrist rough and hard, making you gasp trying to pull away.

"Look, I'm just trying to show you a good time. What's wrong with you? Any girl would kill to have a piece of me." He says arrogantly, making you cringe as he tugs harder on your wrist. You are sure that this isn't right now, and want to get away more than ever, but you are in a secluded part of the dance floor, covered by the other people blissfully ignorant. You don't say anything in return but keep tugging on your wrist, your adrenaline pushing you go move quicker. "What's wrong with you? I told you to relax and what do you do? Start acting like this is a big deal. Typical little bi-" He complained, but never got to finish as Bruce walked into the scene. As soon as he saw what was going on he stormed up to the guy.

"Typical little what? Why are you not speaking huh? You drunk? Has it taken away your voice? Because from what I saw earlier you could talk perfectly well." He growled, his anger rising. You kept pulling towards him wanting to be free from this man's killer grip. The man's mouth dropped open and you took it as an opportunity to kick him where it hurt and run to Bruce. The man groaned and instantly let go as you breathed a sigh of relief to run to Bruce who held you protectively. You walked away and he took you to the couch that was abandoned on the side as the party was in full swing on the other side of the room. Your wrist hung limply as you fought the tears that threatened to spill. You took shaky breaths, trying to calm down and ignore the throbbing of the wrist that he had gripped so tightly. Bruce sat you down and immediately went into 'Doctor' mode, checking you over as you sat there taking various shaky breaths. "Are you hurt anywhere else? Did that little prick hurt you?" Bruce growled, struggling to control his anger as you swallowed, still trying to calm down.

"No, it's just my wrist." You tell him, having cradled the arm in your lap, trying to provide some sort of comfort.

"Of course, I should've thought of that before." Bruce admonished, muttering to himself, taking your hand in his. "Does it feel broken?" Bruce asked, trying to be careful, moving closer to make sure the contact didn't put you in too much pain.

"Bruce, first calm down. He didn't do anything. He didn't get to, you got there and provided the perfect distraction." You say, hoping he wouldn't get any angrier. You normally wouldn't be worried, but you had never seen him as angry as this and had to calm him down before anything else. You placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling calmly, trying to show your gratefulness and ignore the throbbing of your wrist.

"I'm calm, what makes you think I'm not calm?" Bruce asked, being obvious that he wasn't calm. It took only a raised eyebrow from you from him to start laughing. "Okay, maybe I'm not as calm as I said. But that punk was hurting you, you think I'm going be happy?" Bruce challenged, making you smile. His wording was just wonderful. You silently wondered how many other choice words he had for that guy.

"I never said to be happy, but try to calm down. Don't be angry because I'm close to crying." You say, before closing your mouth and silently cursing. "I mean, I'm fine?" You say, trying to amend your mistake but it came out more like a question than an answer.

"Yeah, because you're totally fine after that. I'm sorry, I'm being selfish." Bruce apologised before moving closer to you and analysing your wrist, looking at the faint bruising that had started to appear on the top of the wrist.

"You're not being selfish, I just. I hated that moment. Just because I got stupidly drunk and let my guard down." You say, blaming yourself for not noticing how dangerous that man was.

"(Y/N), you shouldn't have to worry about keeping your guard up or not in the Tower. This should've been safe." Bruce argued, not wanting you to blame yourself.

"Bruce, it happens as a woman. The unspoken law basically says that you need to keep your guards up wherever you are until you find a guy who will protect you or take you to a better place that isn't infested with creeps like him." You explain, remembering your Mum's words as you were finally allowed out to the shops by yourself. Bruce seemed horrified by that explanation.

"What? That's not right." Bruce told you, making you genuinely smile. It wasn't every day you met someone who actually cared about how safe or not you felt when you walked the streets. It was obvious that mostly everyone looked at you when you walked the streets. Either you or another poor woman. You couldn't escape it and you couldn't call the police for being uncomfortable. You would have to charge every guy in the area and that would a waste of time. It was a fact of life you'd accepted but you knew that you would never let a guy flirt with you and be disgusting. You knew how to put people in their places.

"Of course it isn't but it doesn't matter. There are countless people fighting it but there will probably still be guys looking at me and I just don't care. I either wave it off or give them a hard stare. Slime like him need to go but then again, I am a woman and in the eyes of my mother, unprotected. I have no protection and no one to help me." You summarise, looking at Bruce. "But then again, I did get away from that guy with just a little bit of distraction. I'll just not get that drunk next time." You shrug, swallowing. You tried not to think of next time, hoping there never would be something like that again.

"There won't be a next time." Bruce reassured and you swallowed again, somehow not too reassured. You didn't want to reply so instead opted for hissing in pain when he started to prod on a certain area that had turned a darker purple and had started to swell. You pulled your hand away as a natural reaction, only causing more pain in the sharp gesture, making you wince. "Sorry." He apologised, carefully taking back your hand, his gentle touch soothing you as he rubbed small circles on the back of the hand trying to focus the nerves on something else. "I think it may be fractured. But I think you got lucky and it is mainly from his grip. It is probably a type 1 but definitely not a type 3. There will be bruising around the area for quite some time and you will need a wrist brace. I don't know for sure how long you will have to keep it on as this is only predictions, but it ranges from 4 to 10 weeks." Bruce spoke, giving his Doctor analysis. He didn't stop soothing you with his gentle circles on the back of your wrist. It didn't throb so much when he did that and you relaxed into his soft grip.

"Great, I have to go to the Doctor's and pay." You mutter, throwing your head back on the couch, trying to relax and Bruce sat there, still holding your hand.

"You do realise who you're talking to right?" Bruce asked, gesturing to himself. He was a Doctor, and he could get her the treatment. You understood what he meant and got back up, looking at him curiously.

"Seriously? You would do that?" You asked, your emotion running like a heartbeat line. It was up and down randomly.

"Of course, come on. I have to do it now before the swelling gets worse." Bruce said, pulling on her arm, taking care of the wrist as you both walk back to the lab. There was a first aid kit ready and he quickly dabbed some ointment on it to reduce the swelling and cool the burning, irritated skin. Then he wrapped it up with bandages. There was no wrist brace in the first aid kit, you would have to sort that out in the morning. It was only an emergency first aid kit and you could survive without it. It wasn't a long procedure but you couldn't help but look at Bruce's concentrated face as he carefully wrapped the bandages around your wrist, not wanting to cause any pain and smiled. He was one in a million. "There, that is done. You have to be careful going to sleep. It will be hurting, not much I can do about that apart from an aspirin but try not to disturb it. Hold it away from you and don't undo the bandages." Bruce instructed as he finished tightening the last bandage. You smiled at your newly bandaged hand and moved it around wondering how you were going to do paperwork like this.

"Well, paperwork is going to look screwed up." You joke, picking up a spare pen and trying to write. It didn't look too bad but you were going to have to properly concentrate to get through it all.

"Well, you won't have to do as much in the Avengers." Bruce pointed out, making your heart sink. You hadn't thought about that all day. You didn't want to, just thinking about it made you feel nauseous.

"Yeah I guess." You agree dejectedly. "If I even accept the job offer." You mutter, hoping he wouldn't hear. But he did and turned your stool to look at him, using you as an anchor seeing as the stool was too low. You tried to remain calm as he placed his hands on your hips and spun you around that way to face him.

"Why wouldn't you?" He asked, leaning forward, making you swallow again.

"Because I'm not good enough for the job." You state simply.

"This again? I was just saying that if he wanted you to fight, you might not be able to hold your own in somewhere like the battle of New York, having never even shot a gun." He pointed out. "I never said you wouldn't be good enough for the job. You would probably be one of the best." Bruce told you and you smile holding your wrist as it sends out a new wave of pain every few seconds.

"Ok, yeah that makes sense I guess. But I think I'm just scared. I'm terrified of being one of the Avengers, it would be amazing but crazy at the same time. Maybe I can just work for you guys instead of being a part of you." You suggest, finally recognising the feeling inside of you as nerves and feeling sick.

"You could ask, but I think you could be an amazing Avenger." Bruce tells you, all too familiar with that feeling. He can tell you are still thinking and doesn't want to rush you like last time. "Come on, think about it later. Let's go back to the party." He says, getting up from his stool and holding a hand for you and you use your left hand to go around him and hold his hand on the other hand as your other wrist was in a bandages and very sore.

"Yeah that sounds great. More alcohol, dancing and creeps." You tease, rolling your eyes.

"You don't have to do any of that you know." Bruce tells you as you look at him confused.

"So what do you do then? I thought those were the foundations of a party?" You say pretending you hadn't been to a party before.

"Yeah, but you can sing along to the music. You can ask to perform." Bruce suggests and seeing your look of horror, quickly changes the subject. "You can also talk to people." He added and you smiled at the sentence.

"That sounds a lot better. I can talk a lot better when I'm sober, but I'll try." You say, managing to walk in somewhat a straight line after 4 glasses of wine. There were a few stumbles but you were sure they'd be worse if you were still in heels. Bruce supported you every time you stumbled and you were grateful he was still there.

"Its fine, nobody's sober. Nobody will even remember this. That is the foundation of _Tony's_ parties." Bruce smiles at you as you laugh. You knew that Thor and Steve couldn't get drunk but they had Asgardian alcohol so you weren't sure if that made it better or worse. Tony would probably be wasted. Hill and Natasha would be buzzed but not drunk. Rhodey might be but you weren't too sure. All in all, it wouldn't be too bad but at least you weren't slurring your words or anything.

"Thank God." You breathe as you enter the party room again. People were leaving now, it was getting late and you relaxed a little, still holding on to Bruce. You both sat down on the couch, talking and were joined by the rest of the Avengers later.

9


	6. Book 1: Chapter 6

Bruce Confession Short Story P6:

"Thank God." You breathe as you enter the party room again. People were leaving now, it was getting late and you relaxed a little, still holding on to Bruce. You both sat down on the couch, talking and were joined by the rest of the Avengers later.

They all attempted to pick up Thor's hammer and you laughed at Bruce pretending to transform. "So (Y/N), you didn't even tell me what happened in Spain." Clint asked, moving to sit down on the opposite side to you so you could see him properly. You'd draped your dress over your feet and was sat comfortably just observing the party with Bruce and making bets on what would happen.

"Damn." You bow your head as Bruce just laughs next to you. You were on your 5th glass of wine, now classed as drunk and not tipsy but you still knew that this meant you owed Bruce a fiver. He somehow knew that Clint was going to ask you that. "I thought everyone had forgotten about that!" You defend turning to Bruce leaving everyone watching you both confused.

"Well, you were wrong and it seems you owe me some money." Bruce retorts, leaving you sat there, mock glaring at him with a smile on your face. You couldn't be mad at him for collecting his part of the bet but you were still mad that you had to pay.

"Anyone know what's going on?" Clint asked, looking around. What was going on?

"We made a bet. He won." You state grudgingly, not wanting to talk about it any longer. "Anyway," You stress still mock glaring at Bruce turning into a 5 year old. "Spain was amazing. I did loads." You change the subject, telling Clint and everyone else what happened. "According to Tony, I got proposed to, idiot. No, I didn't, I saw others proposing. Other people, people that are not me." You stress, turning to Tony who probably his millionth glass of vodka in his hand, sipping it slowly while you spoke and just shrugged at your words. You sighed and carried on, finishing with you coming back to find Bruce asleep.

"Wow. That was a lot. Sight-seeing, fun isn't it?" Clint remarked after you finished, looking around.

"Yeah, but I was really looking forward to that football match." You mock sigh, knowing Bruce would be feeling guilty behind you. This was your revenge.

"I said I was sorry." Bruce defended.

"Sorry doesn't cut it. Those tickets were incredibly hard to get, you know. Quite a lot of money." You tilt your head, sighing as you pretend to regret your decision.

"Look, I'm sorry. Do you want me to pay you back or something?" Bruce asked, as your smile came back. You were about to retort, moving closer when music began to play.

"#Kiss the girl#" It sang from The Little Mermaid, if you remembered the song correctly. You froze, your words dying on your lips as your eyes widened. You may have been drunk but you knew that this was awkward.

"Go on then!" Someone shouted from behind you and you looked at Bruce, both of you arguing with your eyes. He was pissed and you were trying to keep him calm, although he saw you were pissed. It went from an argument to a mutual knowing look. You were about to pull away, realising you'd been sitting there looking at him for way too long when you felt someone push you from behind. Bruce caught you, holding you upright as your lips touched. You were shocked at first before closing your eyes and going with it like you felt Bruce was. Your unhurt hand went up to his face as his went to your hair, holding it up. You felt the gentle touch and distinctly heard happy yelling behind you. You pulled apart and were out of breath, still trying to process what had happened. You swallowed nothing, trying to swallow the high feeling you felt. You looked around, trying to avoid Bruce's gaze. The entire room were whooping and clapping, showing their delight. You even saw a smile on Natasha's face as she surveyed the scene. You put a hand to your head and the soft feel of your hair falling out of your pins was what touched your nerves. Bruce's hand had unclipped your waves and you pulled it out, fingering it as you looked back at Bruce who seemed nervous like you were. You swallowed again before letting your feet down. You got your flats on and teared your eyes away from Bruce's earnest look. You couldn't tell what he was thinking or wanted.

"Yeah! Finally!" Tony shouted from behind you and you just knew you had to get out of there.

"I'm going to go." You said, not being able to think of a proper excuse and fled the room leaving the room in silence as you went to the stairs using the banister and feeling your hair fly behind you as you ran. "Oh God, oh God, oh God!" You kept saying as you got to your room. You flopped on the bed and got up a second later, your energy spiking as you paced the room.

"Is everything alright Miss (L/N)?" JARVIS asked, worry highlighting his voice.

"Is anyone coming JARVIS?" You say, ignoring his question. You didn't hear any footsteps but you weren't ready for a confrontation with anyone.

"No Miss (L/N). I must persist though, is everything alright?" JARVIS asked again as you put both hands on your hair, messing it up as you keep pacing, running your hand through it as a nervous habit.

"JARVIS, did you see what happened in the room just now?" You ask, not wanting to say it.

"Between you and Doctor Banner?" JARVIS asked and you felt your heart drop as you heard Bruce's name. What did he think of your sudden exit?

"Yeah." You cringe, thinking of how awkwardly you ran out of the room.

"Yes I saw what happened." JARVIS confirmed. "What about it?" He asked and you almost burst.

"Everything! I just, I don't know what happened. I was so awkward!" You try to express, not really working but JARVIS understood anyway.

"You were taken aback. It was only logical that you fled the room." JARVIS told you as you finally flopped into the spinning chair by your desk. The force caused it spin and you just sat there, waiting as you processed JARVIS' words.

"Yeah, but what must the others think? That was so rude. And not to mention incredibly awkward." You counter, needing JARVIS' counsel right now. Your head was laid back as your hair dropped behind you flying as you carried on spinning. You looked to the ceiling waiting for JARVIS to reply.

"It was an understandable reaction as neither you nor Doctor Banner were ready for what happened. The shock overwhelmed you." JARVIS replied, understanding and kind. Suddenly he was gone. You felt it, you didn't know how but you knew that something was wrong. JARVIS wasn't there. You clasped the arms of the chair as you stopped resting your feet on the desk.

"JARVIS?" You asked tentatively, somehow knowing there wouldn't be a reply but hoping you were completely wrong. Nothing, no sound. You waited but nothing happened. "JARVIS?" You asked, louder as the worry overtook you. "JARVIS, are you there?" You asked almost shouting as you commanded, hoping that you could hear him. You listened, every sense heightened with alcohol and worry, the hairs on your arms bristling as you were met with eerie silence. You got up, hearing the sound of every footstep echoing around the room as you tentatively walked to the door barefoot. You opened it to find the entire tower silent as you took a few steps into the darkened hallway only to go rushing back into your room.

First, you decided, you had to change. You got your favourite jeans and top, wearing your necklace that you'd gotten when you were 15 that had your name on it. It provided some comfort in the strange place you'd found yourself in. You got your phone, on full charge and used the torch feature to guide your way around the tower. You assumed the elevator wouldn't be working and went to the stairs, carefully grasping the cold metal and using to pull yourself up. You made it to the lab where everyone was seated and walked into the room, turning the phone light off. They were all scarily quiet and you swallowed. "What happened? I was talking to JARVIS and then he was gone and the lights in the hallway were all off." You say, describing what happened before seeing the looks on their faces and realising they knew what was going on. And from what you saw, it wasn't good.

"JARVIS is gone." Steve tells you as you pocket your phone. The news almost makes you drop it.

"What?" You say, whispering as you try to swallow and process what they were telling you.

"Didn't you hear him? JARVIS is gone. Gone!" Tony says, turning around, scarily calm at first before flipping some paper onto the floor and turning back to stop himself from crying. You took a shaky breath, trying not to cry yourself and swallow, biting your lip as tears threaten to obstruct your vision. You keep trying to hold them back, taking multiple shaky breaths through your nose as you bend down and pick up the papers that Tony flipped onto the floor.

"What happened?" You say, your voice quiet but powerful. You direct your question to everyone, wanting to know what could've caused this as you bite the tears back.

"Ultron. He took over. Put everything about us on the net." Steve told you as you closed your eyes and tried to take a calming breath. You'd heard about Ultron of course, Bruce had simply explained it as an experiment that went wrong as if happened while you were in Spain, but you knew that there more to the story and had pieced everything together from what people told you and the file you managed to get a glance at.

"What else?" You ask, knowing there was more to this story.

"Stuff about every SHIELD agent and scientist. Even the lead ones." Steve spoke, making you swallow. This was not the time to cry. This wasn't about you, you could face the repercussions later, and right now you had to face this problem. "Stuff about what SHIELD have kept hidden and he's gone. We lost him." Steve carried on, his bitterness obvious. He never wanted an enemy to be lost. He had to do the best job he could in keeping the world safe. And he'd failed.

It was then that you saw the bits of robot scattered everywhere. You didn't recognise it and tentatively put a hand out to touch it. Its cold metal face entranced you and you moved to the table, simply touching it instead of picking it up. You saw the amount of work that had been put into it but it wasn't blood, sweat and tears. It was simply just hard work, it was evil intent. You couldn't help but shiver at the feeling you got from it. A tear escaped your eye and you swallowed, broken out of the trance. You just knew this thing was evil and you never wanted to look at it again. "So it hacked into SHIELD? And the net?" You clarify, letting the tear drop onto the floor as you turned back to everyone else. You needed an answer to think of what to do.

"Not only SHIELD but they have access to the net and probably every other secret organisation out there." Agent Hill spoke, her voice defeated. SHIELD was her entire life and look what happened.

"Not so secret anymore is it?" Tony muttered in spite. He became pricklier when he was grieving. And right now, they all were.

"What happened?" You ask, still a little lost. If he wanted to reveal everything, he's already won. What else does he want?

"He attacked," Bruce spoke up. "Small scale." He added, seeing your worry. "Sent about a dozen robots to get us. We stopped them. Smashed that body, but he has a lot more. Some factory somewhere. He said he wanted us extinct. The Avengers. Apparently, we're what's wrong with humanity." Bruce informed, neither opposing nor enforcing his ideals, simply stating them. That was what was wrong and you knew it was what everyone else was thinking as well.

"So we need to get you guys somewhere safe. We'll be fine, he's not after us, but he, dislikes you." You pause, knowing that you couldn't break down. JARVIS was dead because of this. The dread weighed heavily on your heart and you couldn't help but want to collapse and find this was all just a bad dream. You couldn't, you knew that. This was real and you needed to face it. You walk over to Clint and lean in. "Maybe the safe house would be a good idea right now." You say to him discreetly knowing all about his house. Everybody was silent, again, nobody opposing nor enforcing the idea. Everyone was contemplative and thoughtful. Then Thor came in striding across the room purposefully to Tony, and then grabbed his neck lifting him up. You immediately go across to him as Tony starts to talk to him, trying to pry his hand away from his throat.

"Use your words come on buddy." He manages to get out, still holding his fist.

"I have more than enough words to describe you Stark." Thor replies, still holding Tony up.

"Thor! Stop it! Just tell us what happened." You order, getting over there to try and assert your authority. But the situation seemed so hopeless and the fighting was worse. A "Please." Escaped you. You didn't have much authority over the Asgardian but he respected you and your wishes and technically all of the Avengers owed you for what happened on the couch. Thor grudgingly lowered Stark and turned to face the room and tell them what happened.

"The trail went cold about a 100 miles out. It was headed north." Thor spoke without much emotion or pause, leaving you to try and understand him. "And it has the sceptre." He added, leaving everyone to roll their eyes and internally groan. "Now we have to retrieve it, again." Thor stated turning to the room as you sighed, wondering if anyone would notice if you just left. Liv and your Mum would be going crazy about now. Liv would've heard first but Mum wouldn't be too far behind either. Then there would be questions, the amount of questions. The lies. The job. The job promotion. This entire thing was a mess. You zoned out for a moment, lost in your thoughts before a question pierced through it all.

"I don't understand. You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?" Dr Helen Cho spoke up. She turned around to see Tony with his back to her. Your interest was piqued as you saw Tony start to laugh to himself. This was not a laughing matter. You started to shake your head and Bruce did the same signalling to Tony as he was standing the closest to him.

"You think this is funny?" Thor asked, his anger visibly rising again. Tony turned to him and seemed completely different.

"No, it's probably not, right? Is it so terrible? It is, it's so terrible." Tony laughed, gesturing to everyone. He had to stop his sentence because of his laughter.

"This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand." Thor began, walking forward talking matter of factly, managing to finish his sentence before Tony interrupted him.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, it is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this." Tony's voice became dangerously angered. He walked right up to the Asgardian, blatantly challenging him. His words were emphasised greatly and the tension rose. Bruce, being the peace keeper attempted to intercept the argument.

"Tony. Maybe this might not be the time." He began, trying to lower the tension in the room before being cut off by Tony.

"Really?" He asked incredulously. "That's it, you just roll over, show your belly every time somebody snarls?" Tony asked, mocking his peace keeping ways. He had snapped, something was different and you couldn't understand what had happened in one trip to Spain that had changed your friends so much.

"Only when I've created a murderbot." Bruce retorted, his voice becoming sing-song as he looked at Tony.

"We didn't." Tony stated, holding his hands out. "We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?" Tony spoke quickly, cutting off his last sentence as he asked Bruce who just nodded, tilting his head.

"Well, you did something right." Steve interjected, trying to calm the situation and take control like the natural born leader he was. "And you did it right here. The Avengers was supposed to be different than SHIELD." Steve stated, moving forward to Tony as he began to talk again.

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuclear wormhole?" Tony asked, moving backward to point off to the distance.

"No. That's never come up." Rhodey intercepted, carrying on denying while Tony spoke.

"Saved New York? Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing 300 feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers on a live long day but, that up there, that's, that's the endgame. How are you guys planning on beating that?" Tony asked, turning to everyone, expressing his doubts about the entire team. What was worse, was that his fears were well founded. He had every right to be terrified of what could happen there and he was the only one who had actually seen what the alien fleet had been like and it may have seemed bad on the ground but if you thought about it, it must've looked like the endgame. Tony could be right.

"Together." Steve spoke simply, gathering everyone's attention.

"We'll lose." Tony stated, challenging Steve's unwavering belief in the team.

"Then we'll do that together too." He confirmed, again, leaving Tony without a reply. "Thor is right. Ultron's calling us out." Steve went on to say after it became clear Tony wasn't going to reply. "I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place, let's start making it smaller." Steve ordered as Tony leant on the desk, thinking. Everyone was silent, getting to work and you joined them, after you went to check on Tony.

"You ok? You going to be able to hold out a little longer?" You ask, walking up to what seemed like a broken man, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. His anger wasn't really there anymore, it was more tiredness. Tony was tired, broken and had overheated thinking about how to save the world. You didn't need to be a genius to know he was at breaking point and needed someone to comfort him. Everyone else was too wrapped up in the big dilemma to do something and you, being the one trying to remain strong and unaffected, was the one who instantly gravitated to the broken. You had a helping people thing. You always were the shoulder to cry on, the soft wall to lean on. You were always there and that wouldn't change just because your entire family could be affected. They weren't in danger, they would just be awkward around you.

"Yeah, just don't know how much longer though." Tony replied in a whisper, his strength sapped from the argument. He just felt like nobody was seeing his side of things. Nobody ever did, all they did was blame him and not think about why he did what he did.

"That's alright. This will all be over soon, Ultron's going down even if it takes another sacrifice." You say, mostly to yourself as you think back to Phil Coulson, the former handler of the Avengers. He had died at the hands of Loki but his death had pulled the team together and they had saved New York because of it. Tony didn't reply and you left him to his thoughts as you went to find a computer out of the lab. Ultron may have ruined your life, but he wasn't going to hurt anyone else, not anymore you thought sternly, setting your face.

You may have been drunk before, but the news had immediately set you sober. You went to find an aspirin so you could focus properly on what you needed to do. "JAR-" You started to say, about to ask for an aspirin before remembering what had happened and going silent. Your voice had gone and you stopped, the pain overwhelming. You weren't sure where it stemmed from. The loss of JARVIS? The loss of contact with your family? The loss of sanity as everything overwhelmed you? You couldn't pinpoint a single issue and decided it was probably a mix of it all. Coming to that conclusion only made the pain sharper and easier to hurt. You clutched your stomach, still trying to breathe and blink back the tears. Your legs started to shake, not being able to support your weight as you fell to your knees tears escaping you and falling to the ground before being accompanied by sobs that wracked your body.

Your whole being was overcome with grief like you had never known and you shut off completely from the outside world, needing to be alone. You barely registered two pairs of hands pulling you up calling your name before they wrap around you, turning you sideways. A faint voice calls out to you and you just feel more tears falling down, everything else is gone. "(Y/N)? (Y/N)? Just talk to me!" The voice says, piercing through everything and bringing you back. You breathe sharply, like you've just come out of water. You shoot up, your head swimming as hands hold you. "(Y/N)?" A voice says happily and you manage to connect the dots and remember that the voice belongs to Bruce. You don't respond simply sighing and leaning into him. "You're okay (Y/N), you're okay." He says soothingly, as you come back to reality. Your head is swimming and you feel horrible, the dull ache everywhere, but you feel safe knowing you're with Bruce.

"Bruce? What happened?" You ask, finally finding your voice.

"Your body had a shutdown phase, something must've triggered it, your mind and body completely shut down not responding or moving. First stage of a panic attack, Clint and Tony found you and brought you to me so I could stop it before it went any further." Bruce filled in, still holding you as you lean on him.

"Clint?" You ask, moving your head. "Where is he?" You ask, needing to get your bearings.

"I'm here (Y/N). I'm right here." Clint gets up, moving towards you and gives you a huge hug like you always do. You start to regain movement in your limbs and move them to go around him but you can't squeeze him or anything proper, you are still a bit weak from whatever 'shutdown' happened.

"Thanks for saving me." You laugh as he pulls away, the worry lines obvious on his face.

"No problem. You're always saving everyone on this team, about time we repay you right?" Clint jokes back and you laugh, starting to feel a bit stronger.

"Maybe you should start paying me by giving me some results?" You say, shifting your position to be more comfortable on the table. You realise where you are and instead jump off the table, gripping the table as you start to shake and gladly take Tony's hand. Your shoes are scattered over the room, one at one side and the other on the other side. You guess you couldn't keep them on during your shutdown. Once you have retrieved them you sit down and start to put them on while Clint carries on talking.

"Maybe you shouldn't shock us by having a shutdown or whatever?" Clint retorted as you stand up, brushing yourself down and securing your hair and everything else. It was still out but you always carried spare hairbands on your wrist. The hair was starting to get tangled but still soft and you easily raked it back into a high ponytail. You were just glad you'd managed to. You started to regain your confidence in walking and strode up to the two.

"Well, it's not really my fault is it? And we have more important stuff to talk about rather than your weak arguments Clint." You retort, probably way too cocky for your own good. Tony picked up on it and raised an eyebrow before responding.

"Someone's getting confident." Tony remarked with a smile. You laugh, losing all cockiness and just smile at him before moving to hug him. He might be annoying, but he and Clint were like your brothers. They were just as annoying as Liv and still fun to be around.

"Well, it's fun to be confident sometimes. But being humble is also a good trait Tony. It's also one you need to learn." You say, smiling at him, grabbing a piece of gum from your pocket. You put it between your teeth and smiled before crunching it and savouring the sweet peppermint. It was your favourite. You didn't like the others, they were way too strong and made your eyes water when you chewed it.

"I'm humble!" Tony tried to defend only receiving laughter as a reply.

"Keep telling yourself that Tony. It's ok to be in denial, but we'll help you get through it." Bruce smiled supportively, placing a hand on his shoulder before laughing along with you. You turned to Bruce, your breath starting to become more fresh and sweeter. You loved smiling when you had gum, it just felt better. You had an addiction. Bruce removed his hand, laughing as Tony gave him a glare. You just turned to him and put your hand up for a high five which was hesitantly reciprocated. You laughed again, this time accompanied by Clint instead and hugged Bruce to diminish the awkward mood about to set in.

"Ok, you want to talk about that 'important stuff' now or after you two finish?" Clint quipped, smiling wider at their embrace. He loved teasing you and you retorted but he always seemed to get the last word. It irritated you to no extent but he was still something of a brother to you so you never stayed angry for long.

"Shut up." You dismissed, pulling away and turning back to Clint while trying not to blush as you were reminded of the party. "Anyway, anyone want to catch me up on what happened while I was out?" You asked, moving to look at them both expectantly. You crossed your arms and carried on chewing. They both looked at each other and shrugged. "Wow, have I just witnessed Clint and Tony getting on?" You quip, smiling at the two of them, gum stuck between your teeth.

"What's so crazy about that?" Tony asked, throwing his hands up in a fake innocent pose. Clint just sighed behind him and he turned. "What?" He asked, but when it became clear he wasn't going to get a response he carried on. "Nothing really." Tony replied elusively, referring to your earlier question and you narrow your eyes suspiciously at him. Something happened. "What? I swear, nothing really happened!" Tony tried to defend, throwing his hands up in the air and you turned to Clint who consequently cursed.

"I don't know anything!" He tried, putting his hands up as well as you glared. "Bruce? A little help here?" He asked. You turned to the aforementioned person and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Don't bring me into this." Bruce spoke, moving away with a smile at the boys and a slightly weaker one for you. You just smiled back, this happened way too often when you crossed your arms. You became terrifying and they all stayed out of your way.

"Oh!" You exclaim, turning your back to them, getting tired of their games. "Forget you! I'm going to get some proper answers!" You shout back behind you and walk purposefully down the hall. You hear shouts behind you and slightly quicken your pace. You set off in search of Natasha, knowing she wouldn't mess with you like they had. You expected her to be in the lab with everyone else but found no one.

8


	7. Book 1: Chapter 7

Bruce Confession Short Story P7:

"Oh!" You exclaim, turning your back to them, getting tired of their games. "Forget you! I'm going to get some proper answers!" You shout back behind you and walk purposefully down the hall. You hear shouts behind you and slightly quicken your pace. You set off in search of Natasha, knowing she wouldn't mess with you like they had. You expected her to be in the lab with everyone else but found no one.

But Dr Helen Cho. She was ordering her team when you got there. "Take everything to the plane because we don't know what could happen." She ordered in some other language, meaning you couldn't understand. She took off her coat and you caught up.

"Dr Cho!" You shout after her as she walks into the room. You slip through to see Ultron standing there. You stop immediately with Dr Cho who is watching him.

"Scream and your entire staff dies." He conditioned, as Helen stood there, silent. You came out from behind her and he tilted his head. "Oh, didn't expect you. Oh well, challenges are always appreciated." He spoke, before going off into a trance like state for a moment before looking back at you. "Well, Miss (L/N). Or should I say Dr? I don't address many by their proper names, it's such a… waste. What happened to your wrist? Actually forget it, I don't care." He finished, using hand gestures that seemed so human like it sent a shiver down your spine. "You have a very colourful past. Do the Avengers know?" He asked, tilting his head again, stepping forward a few steps. Your silence only confirmed his preferred answer as he came as close as a robot could to smiling. He carried on. "I could've killed you Helen, the night we met…" He started again, making it clear who he was talking to. "I didn't." He finished.

"Do you expect a "Thank you," Note?" Helen replied, making you smile. At least she wasn't backing down.

"I expect you to know why." Ultron replied, moving forwards some more.

"The cradle." Helen breathed, looking down at the object. "This is the next thing Tony." Helen remembered, as she stared at the cradle. Ultron slammed a hand down on it and looked menacingly at her.

"This. Is the next me." He spoke, looking at her with a smile.

"The regeneration cradle prints tissue. It can't build a living body." Helen countered, as you moved to get help. Slowly, but surely.

"It can." Ultron countered, firmly stating it. "You can." He finished, moving forward as Helen moved back. "You lack the materials." Ultron stated, as another robot moved forward with Loki's spear.

"Ultron." You say, simply using that one word to command his respect. He turned but still looked at you with the same disdain. The robot advanced on you and you held the spear away from you, wrestling with the robot.

"What?" Ultron spat, obviously seeing you as the flaw in his plan.

"Stop it!" You say, trying to keep your voice level so it wouldn't count as shouting. Helen backed into the corner and you kept wrestling with the robot in front of you with one hand. It was obvious he still wanted you alive as a hostage but apart from that, you were dispensable. "Leave me and Helen alone. Why do you need us? Are you not intelligent enough?" You goad, hoping Helen would be able to find some help or a way out of the place.

"Of course I'm not. I have all the knowledge in the world, and you think I can't do this? But this, is delicate. Needs another pair of hands." Ultron stated, making the robot throw you to the floor but not put you under the trance. You held your fractured hand above you holding the handle of the spear away from you. "You're a brilliant woman Helen. But we all have, room to improve." Ultron spoke as the robot used Loki's spear on Helen, turning her to his side. You scrambled to your feet, trying to get to Helen before Loki's spear suddenly appeared at your throat. "I could easily turn you. You could, see the light." Ultron teased, making you gulp at the spear as you focused on it. You took deep breaths, trying not to scream as Helen got to work. "That's better. Don't you see? This is so much easier." Ultron sat, relaxing as Helen opened the cradle, setting it to work.

"It's beautiful. The vibranium atoms aren't just compatible with the tissue cells, they're binding them." Helen explained, looking in wonder at the screen while you watched, being held back by the robot and the spear in your face, threatening you. "And SHIELD never even-" Helen began to add before she was interrupted by Ultron.

"The most versatile substance on the planet, and they used it to make a frisbee. Typical of humans. They scratch the surface and never think, to look within." Ultron went off on another tirade about humans as you scanned the room, trying to find an escape route. But you were entranced by the mind stone that was promptly placed in the body and started to light it all up. You watched in amazement as Helen began to speak again.

"Cellular cohesion will take a few hours but we can initiate the consciousness stream." She explained, strapping Ultron into the cradle with the wires as she began setting up. You took a sharp intake of breath at that. He'd be indestructible if this went any further. You had to stop it. "We're uploading your cerebral matrix. Now." Helen finished as she tapped on the screen, it hid the same tapping from you as you sent out a message to Bruce for help.

"I can read him. He's dreaming." Wanda stepped forward in wonder. You watched warily, you hadn't been there but you'd been given the lowdown on these people. You were glad she was too interested in the body to look at you as you finished the message.

"I wouldn't call it 'dreams'. It's Ultron's base consciousness. Informational noise." Helen explained as Wanda watched. Even Ultron moved his head to listen as you pocketed the phone again. "Soon-" Helen began as Ultron interrupted.

"How soon? I'm not being pushy." He reassured after he snapped, holding a hand out, making you shudder with the human nature of it.

"We're imprinting a physical brain, there are no shortcuts, even if your magic gem is implanted." Helen explained, her personality coming through. It was almost as if it was her, and she had just switched sides. You swallow at the thought and listen as Wanda touches the cradle before crying out. Pietro is immediately by her side and you watch the exchange carefully as he calms her, checking to see if she's alright.

"How could you?" Wanda asks, betrayal highlighting her words. You watch confused. Ultron stands up at her cry, alert and ready to help but putting on a visible mask, acting confused at her words.

"How could I what?" He asked, his voice betraying his question. It seemed like he already knew what she meant.

"Y-you said, we would destroy the Avengers." Wanda confirmed, her voice shaking. "Make a better world." She recalled before being promptly interrupted by Ultron.

"It will be better." He stated firmly.

"When everyone is dead?" Wanda asked, horror highlighting her features as Pietro's head snapped up to see what he had to reply.

"That is NOT-!" Ultron began, before seeing his tone of voice. "The human race would have every opportunity to improve." Ultron began again, trying to get them to understand.

"And if they don't?" Pietro asked, catching on to what Wanda was insinuating.

"Ask Noah." Ultron spoke, making a biblical reference you didn't need to check up on. Even going to school or watching a movie, you always knew the story. Apparently so did Wanda and Pietro as you could visibly see them changing their minds and rethinking their decision to side with Ultron.

"You're a madman." Wanda breathed, moving backwards with Pietro.

"There were more than a dozen extinction level events before even the dinosaurs even got theirs." Ultron reasoned. "When the Earth starts to settle, God throws a stone at it. And believe me, he's winding up." Ultron leaned forward, believing every word he spoke, leaving you to try and control your breaths as you saw both Wanda and Pietro, close to tears. "We have to evolve. There's no room for… the weak." Ultron finished, placing a hand on the cradle, caressing it, and as he looked down, you saw Wanda releasing Helen from her spell. You knew they were good then, they were against Ultron. They may have been blinded by their hate for Tony but they had understood that helping a madman end the world was not how you do it.

"And who decides who's weak?" Pietro questioned, keeping Ultron talking as he moved forwards.

"Life." Ultron replied before laughing. "Life always decides." Ultron carried on. Pietro went to console Wanda as Ultron looked up. "There's incoming." Ultron looked off as you tried not to smile, hoping it would be Bruce. "The Quinjet." Ultron spat with distaste in his mouth. You let out a small smile at the familiar sound of the words. "We have to move." Ultron ordered to Helen who he still believe was with him. She went along with it, keeping her eyes down so he didn't see they weren't the shade of blue he thought they were.

"That's not a problem." Helen spoke, pausing the upload and halting Ultron's progress. He saw this as a sign and sighed before shooting Helen. She crashed backwards into the wall and you tried not to draw attention to yourself, visibly straining to reach her. At the shot Pietro took off with Wanda in tow.

"No! Wait! Guys I-" Ultron stuttered, reminding you of a high school kid who was trying to make new friends. But you guessed a high school kid wasn't planning to make the Avengers and the human race extinct. His other robot forms shot Dr Cho's team and you screamed into your hands muffling the sound as they were all killed on the spot. You bent down and the tears came streaming down. Ultron just sighed. "They'll understand. When they see, they'll understand." He reassured himself, carrying on talking while Helen lay on the floor, bleeding out. "I just need a little more, time." He expressed pulling out the cord from his head, detaching himself and making the screen say, "Connection lost." You couldn't help but feel a sigh of relief at the words. The robots took the body with them as you moved to Dr Cho, hoping she was still alive.

She was, just bleeding heavily. You quickly took off a strip from your shirt, the emotional pain at having to rip it coming through as you tied it around her, hoping to stop the heavy blood flow. You hated having to use your special shirt but it was better than letting her bleed to death. You kept tending to her, ripping off mostly your entire shirt to bandage her wounds. Your fractured hand was crying out in pain but you ignored it as best as you could, knowing this was much more important. When most of her injuries were covered, you went a bit slower on the hand, easing it up as you carefully tied the knots, hoping they wouldn't come loose.

Then Steve came in rushing towards them, seeing Helen and letting out a cry of "Dr Cho!" He quickly bent down and grabbed a stray piece of shirt to bandage around her on top of what you'd already done.

"He's uploading himself into the body." Helen quickly spoke, while you secured the bandages, tightening and adding more where you could.

"Where?" Steve asked, knowing Helen was about to pass out.

"The real power is inside the cradle. The gem. Its power is uncontainable. You can't just blow it up. You have to get the cradle to Stark." Helen ordered, holding his shoulder to keep him listening as you finished you bandages.

"First I have to find it." Steve answered, looking around, trying to keep an eye out and save Helen's life. You grabbed her uninjured arm and lifted her up.

"Go. I can take her." You say to Steve who assesses the situation quickly, looking from you to Helen before nodding and getting up, chasing after him. You grunt and lift Helen up on the side that was fully operational, trying to support her weight properly. "Come on Dr Cho, stay with me. We're going to get you to another Doctor, he can help you. You won't have to do anything after that, just stay awake for me now and help me get you there and then you can rest." You compromise, trying to keep her talking as you half pulled half dragged her to the roof, making it one step at a time before getting to the Quinjet where Clint was piloting with Natasha waiting to go. You got inside and Clint was obviously confused.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, incredulously. You just rolled your eyes and gave Helen to Natasha who immediately began to tend to her wounds.

"I got captured after you idiots wouldn't give me any information!" You shout back, waiting for his response that never came as Natasha interrupted.

"Clint, we need to go." She commanded as Clint promptly obeyed. She got up, leaving Dr Cho to you. You instantly rushed to support her as she fell forwards and buckled her up, reaching for the first aid kit to stabilise her. You slammed it open and looked for the bandages, promptly unwrapping your shoddy work to replace it carefully and sanitised at the same time. You didn't know how to handle this as Bruce was better with the medical work, so you did what you could and promptly gave her a painkiller and sent her to sleep. She looked peaceful while she slept but you couldn't keep yourself from keeping an eye on her pulse every moment. You barely noticed when Natasha went out on her bike to help Steve. You teared your eyes away for a moment to see the hospital and knew what you had to do.

"Clint, go onto that roof." You ordered, not leaving any room for argument with your tone although you could see many forming in his mind. He did what you asked and you quickly managed to pick up Helen to carry her out of the Quinjet and into the hospital below by kicking the doors open. She was still asleep and drowsy, meaning she was heavy and hard to drag. You felt the blast of heat on your face from the Quinjet moving away and felt a small sense of panic burst in you but you tried to ignore it and get Helen somewhere safe. You ran to the main waiting room and to the desk where the receptionist wasted no time in calling doctors to take Helen away. You wanted to go after them but were ushered back where you couldn't interfere. They didn't word it like that but you knew it was what they meant. You were jittery at first but as the hours ticked on, you remained motionless in your chair, someone many people walked past, not even noticing as a person instead of furniture. You didn't care, the clock ticking by was all you could see, it had become so blurry but you sat there watching as your vision zoned in and out of the clock. Eventually you blinked and came back to reality as a nurse came to re-bandaging your hand with a proper wrist brace before escorting you to Helen's room and answering some questions. You didn't object, walking along into the room as you saw Helen sleeping on the bed, the beep of the heart monitor assuring you of her health without you needing to stare at her.

"What is the patient's full name?" The nurse asked, a clipboard in front of her with a pen clipped to the top, ready to write.

"Dr Helen Cho." You replied simply, not looking away from her as she slept. You knew she was safe and being looked after but it still was a bit weird seeing her like that. You hadn't known her very well but you knew enough to know she was a brilliant scientist and person.

"What is your relationship to the patient?" The nurse asked, after jotting down your first answer and looking up again.

"Work colleague." You spoke without missing a beat. You didn't know her well enough to be a friend and you weren't related to her, you were just her work colleague. Not even that but better than the truth.

"What happened to her?" The nurse asked, again looking from her clipboard to you as she took notes and you steeled yourself for this next part. You could never be mean to people, it just wasn't a part of you. You could stand up for yourself and be hostile to people who you disliked, but you made a huge point out of not blaming anyone and trying to be kind to everyone, even phrasing certain rude words differently.

You remembered Tony saying to you to tell another newbie who was being extremely annoying to "Shut up." And you were horrified at the prospect. He smirked at your discomfort of the words and you tried to gear yourself up while the newbie kept babbling on and on. You'd turned around with a flick and it was going well until he looked at you confused and you lost your resolve and just asked him, "Can you please be quiet?" In a polite but still commanding tone which confused you as you turned back and strode off, Tony hot on your heels. "Seriously?" He asked and you just shrugged, confused at what even you did to try to justify it. This was just as bad.

"Look, I don't want to answer these questions. It's been a tough day and I just want to know if Helen's going to be ok." You snapped, trying to keep your annoyed face on at the poor nurse who seemed taken aback by your reaction when a few moments you'd been quite pleasant.

"Your friend will be fine. Don't worry, I will come back later when you are feeling better for the rest of the questions." The nurse compromised, soothing you with her words as you tried to sooth the guilt settling in your chest. She got up and left and you walked over to Helen, still sleeping and smiled at her hoping she would wake up soon before collapsing in the chair nearer to her bed and flicked out your phone, turning it to be the right way round. You checked for messages and saw nothing, except tons of messages and missed calls from Liv and Mum alike. You sighed and slumped into the chair realising you were going to be there a long time.

5


	8. Book 1: Chapter 8

Bruce Confession Short Story P8:

"Your friend will be fine. Don't worry, I will come back later when you are feeling better for the rest of the questions." The nurse compromised, soothing you with her words as you tried to sooth the guilt settling in your chest. She got up and left and you walked over to Helen, still sleeping and smiled at her hoping she would wake up soon before collapsing in the chair nearer to her bed and flicked out your phone, turning it to be the right way round. You checked for messages and saw nothing, except tons of messages and missed calls from Liv and Mum alike. You sighed and slumped into the chair realising you were going to be there a long time.

At some point you must've dozed off as you woke up to a hand on your shoulder and a kind face smiling at you. You yawned and got up in the chair stretching your limbs to focus on the face of Bruce. "Hey (Y/N), tired?" He asked with a smile, bringing a chair to sit next to you.

"Yeah, it's been a long day for everyone." You sigh, smiling at him as you regain movement in your limbs. That chair wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep. Bruce only agreed before you both fell into comfortable silence, watching Helen as she slept. "So what happened?" You ask, turning to him, ripping your eyes away from Helen.

"Nothing much. Ultron got away. Everyone is packing up at the Tower and we're going now. He's beat us for now, but we'll get him." Bruce spoke, a determined look set on his face. "You should see what his minions did to us. Especially that mind controlling one." Bruce told you as you tilt your head wondering when this was because the last time you looked, she and her twin were changing sides. You were so sure they would. "She pissed me off." Bruce replied to your look making you purse your lips in thought.

"When was this? Because with Ultron earlier, they seemed very likely to change sides." You say, not wanting to jinx it and be certain but you were so sure.

"At the warehouse. He went to see Klaue and force him to deal vibranium. Obviously a fight broke out. That mind controller made everyone see stuff. Including me." Bruce told you, his face set in an unusually angry tone, making you wonder what she made him see. He was silent for a moment after that, leaving you an opening to talk.

"What did you see?" You ask, fully awake but still quietening your voice. It wasn't a loud conversation. This was not a loud topic, you weren't even sure this was a topic to be broached.

"Nothing, nothing it was nothing." Bruce dismissed, trying to move on. You let him, but with a mental note made in the back of your mind to broach the topic again later.

"So what happened today? With Helen and Ultron, did they get him?" You ask, wanting to get all the information you could.

"No, Ultron got away." Bruce tells you as you close your eyes for a moment to let the information seep in. He got away. After everything that happened, he got away. You let out a breath and try to remain calm and fight the tears. "Why would the Maximoffs switch sides though?"

"They saw what Ultron wanted to do. He deceived them into thinking that it was just the Avengers he wanted to destroy but she saw something else when they were uploading his base consciousness into the body. They only managed 50% though so the body hasn't been created yet." You say, recounting what happened speaking slowly to get all of the facts. "But if he manages to get his full consciousness into that body…" You trail off, the possibilities hitting you like a ton of bricks.

"He'll be indestructible." Bruce finished, lost in his thoughts as well. He spoke up a few moment later, his voice a bit lighter. "Good thing we've got it and not Ultron then right?" He spoke, smiling at you as you looked at him with confusion on your face. How did that happen? "Natasha managed to procure it while Steve was keeping Ultron occupied. It's back at the lab." Bruce tells you and you feel a million weights lifted off of your shoulders. At least you didn't mess everything up. You managed to help Helen and they didn't lose the cradle, so you hadn't messed it all up. In your excitement you leapt out of your chair to give Bruce a hug. It was so much easier to breathe when you didn't feel like a burden or crap for losing the cradle.

"Thank God." You breathed as you hugged Bruce, the tears finally falling but from joy instead. You pulled away and quickly wiped away the tears from you face, falling onto the armrest of the chair instead of going back to your seat. "At least I didn't mess everything up." You smiled, gesturing with your hands as Bruce sat up straighter and looked confused at your words.

"What are you talking about? You didn't mess anything up." Bruce asked, as you brushed the stray hair that had become extremely dishevelled from the day's events out of your face. You were suddenly grateful for the time you had, not dying and everything. You felt incredibly glad to be alive and a smile came onto your face as you stopped all thoughts and just appreciated life.

"Well, I didn't stop Ultron." You point out, before interrupting the oncoming flurry of compliments. "I know, it wasn't my fault but I can't help blaming myself. Just like you won't stop demeaning yourself." You gesture, catching him at a point where he couldn't argue.

"Ok, you got me there." Bruce admitted. "Maybe you should've been a lawyer?" Bruce suggested comically. You laugh at that, knowing he was trying to move the conversation away from anything serious like always despite your horrible connotations with the job.

"Hmm, do you think so? What could I specialise in?" You ask, wanting some laughter before everything became serious again. You wanted to escape from the situation like a child would, using imagination. This was what you loved about Bruce. You could be anything with him, you could imagine, rant, laugh and forget everything. The conversation went on like that for some time before they realised how dark it was getting but you were dozing off again. Your body was so exhausted.

You were malnourished and battered for the 2 days you'd been awake. The only way to get back to some energy was to sleep. You had no money to buy any food so the only other option was sleeping. The only thing was you'd fallen asleep in Bruce's chair as he went to get some water. You weren't sitting properly, you were on the floor and leaning your head on the chair, using one arm to support you and the other fractured one just rested in your lap.

"(Y/N)?" Bruce asked, wondering if something had happened before hearing your soft snores along with Helen who was still sleeping as well. You didn't respond, just shifted slightly before sleeping again. He walked over, putting the water on the side table for Helen instead and pulled out his phone, calling for a cab before pulling you up into the chair properly. He sat down in your previously occupied chair and waited for the call alerting him to the cab's arrival. It only took a few moments and he cursed, fumbling with the phone as it rang loudly. You murmured in your sleep and Bruce ran out of the room and answered with a strained voice. He managed to calm down and walked back in to wake you up.

"Please, don't. Don't go. Please." You whisper, a tear falling out of your eye and onto the floor. Bruce faltered in his steps and bent down to hear what you were saying. The scene must've changed because your words did. "My face, oh my god, my face." You start to murmur as the tears stop, only the horror in your face obvious. Then the scene changed again as you spoke again. "Liv, that's amazing. So happy, well done." You say sighing softly before carrying on, the time changing to later in the day. "I've got to go. Sorry, don't cry, don't cry." You soothe as tears fall down your cheeks.

You carry on repeating the words like a mantra, to soothe yourself as Bruce frowned at your words. Why were you saying that? He snapped out of it when Helen murmured and he realised how wrong his actions were. He shouldn't have done that, it was an invasion of privacy and he was just completely disregarding your friendship. He knew he couldn't wake you up, it was probably the first bit of decent sleep you'd gotten for a while and you were obviously tired. So he just picked you up instead, holding you tightly so as not to drop you.

You shifted slightly in his arms, holding onto his shirt as he carried you past everyone in the waiting room, hushing them all so as to not wake you and leaving them all in awed whispers, laughing and smiling coyly at each other. Bruce heard it and tried to control his smile but just forgot as he went to the cab waiting. His smile was barely controlled and the cab driver laughed at this before silencing himself as Bruce got into the cab after sliding you in, trying to balance you carefully. Your head was resting peacefully on the window as your legs curled up to cover you.

Bruce got in afterwards and spoke quietly to the driver, "Please can we get to Avengers Tower?" He just made an offhanded comment, still smiling at the two before driving carefully. He loved driving people because of what people he got in the car. There were so many, some were happy, others weren't and some were blissfully awkward like these two. It was these he loved the most as he could change situations to maybe give these two a little push. He didn't want to comment on the fact he knew exactly who Bruce was, but he was happy that the Hulk had found someone.

"Um, Sir? Just to warn you but the road is very bumpy and I wouldn't want Miss over there to hurt herself on the glass. If you could just hold her so she doesn't fall?" The driver asked, trailing off, leaving Bruce with his decision. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not wanting to give an answer but knowing the correct answer. He didn't reply, just carefully took you in his arms, holding you as you shifted your position again, leaning on Bruce as you slept. The driver saw this and advanced, driving slowly down the bumpy road as you clung tight to Bruce subconsciously not wanting to let go after the challenge had been faced. Bruce stuck by his earlier decision and didn't wake up, instead letting you cling as he shifted you again to sit more comfortably so you could both sit.

He dozed off after a while, warmed by you and got lost in his thoughts of another life. One where he didn't have the Hulk as a burden. It wasn't uncommon for him to dream this but this time another thought startled him as he thought of a wife and children. He dreamed himself at home, cooking up an omelette as his children came running in, their features blurred as he couldn't decide. Then he heard the door click open as he plated up, the unmistakable sound of trainers hitting the brand new floor as you emerged.

The dream lasted a bit longer as his dream-self walked over to you and brought an omelette between you. You sighed softly, glad to be able to relax as you gave him a quick kiss before rushing upstairs to change. In the meantime, Bruce fed and clothed the children for bed, letting them watch their favourite cartoon before tucking them in. As he was doing so, you walked in from behind and gave him a hug before helping to tuck in your children. You both walked downstairs and flopped on the sofa, talking about your days and eating the food, before the scene changed evidently moving forwards a few hours before showing the pair asleep in the same position they were now, on the couch their arms wrapped around each other before Bruce woke up.

His eyes opened quickly and he didn't jolt, but he was still shocked at his dream. You were still asleep on his shoulder and murmured slightly before switching sides. Bruce stayed awake for the rest of the ride, you joined him about 10 minutes from Avengers Tower cleaning yourself up and waking up properly while Bruce stayed silent. You didn't question it but found it shifty all the same. But then again it was a bad time for everyone and you couldn't really blame him for being silent. But that didn't mean it didn't worry you. "Bruce?" You asked slowly. You didn't want to scare him, you just wanted to see if he was alright.

"Hmm?" Bruce replied, not really listening. You smiled at him and just slid over to him, having no seatbelt on in the first place. He was sat there with no seatbelt either and you just gave him a hug, smiling as he stiffened for a moment and then relaxed, pulling an arm free to wrap around you. No words were needed, you both just stayed like that, comforted by each other's presence. The Tower came into view and Bruce paid the cab as you had no money, both of you making your way into the Tower.

"Hey (Y/N), tired?" Tony greeted, walking down the hallway, seeing you holding your forehead as you tried to make your way to your room. Bruce was beside you for support but he was silent along with you. Neither could find the strength to say anything.

"Yeah, just, couldn't sleep properly." You say, pretending to make up an excuse but Tony and Bruce both knew the meaning behind your words. You all understood each other, being mad scientists.

"Know what that's like." He sympathised as he looked at Bruce. Something must've happened between the two.

"Anyway, I'm just going to get some sleep. You all better as well. We can tackle Ultron tomorrow. The idiot can wait." You finish in a murmur, trying to be strict with them and Tony just looked at Bruce weirdly and you caught a head shake between the two before they turned to you smiling sadly. You didn't want to ask, but you were interested. You entered your room, going to your bed, relishing the warm covers. This was good, but their weird looks and head shakes just wouldn't let you sleep. "JARVIS?" You ask, wanting to sort this out and go to sleep with somewhat of a clean conscience.

"Yes Miss (L/N)?" JARVIS replied, a hint of worry to his usually calm voice, expressing everyone's thoughts.

"Please can you tell me if something happens? I'm just going to get some sleep." You ask, knowing JARVIS would tell you. There came no reply and you realised that you had imagined it. He wasn't there, Ultron had taken him down. You had just imagined it. The realisation made you shudder as you got out of bed, not hiding the cold that bit at you the second you got out. Tears spiked at you but you didn't need your vision to change. You simply changed into your nightclothes and got under the covers after turning the light off manually. It felt like such a bitter reminder of what was happening as you closed your eyes, ignoring the tears falling out regardless, down the side of your eyes onto the pillow. Sleep pulled you in eventually as the darkness closed in. Fatigue warmed you as you lost all sense of time.

Everything you knew about who you were, anything you knew at all was gone. It was just darkness until you were pulled out of it by something you couldn't identify. You woke up with a gasp despite all you saw was darkness. Information came flooding back into your brain as you remembered what was happening. You flipped open the covers and got dressed in the same clothes from yesterday quicker than ever still tying your hair with your jacket and bag holding everything you needed. You kept getting dressed as you ran outside, trying to find anyone. You didn't know where they could be without JARVIS.

You ran back inside to the roof to see a Quinjet take off, blasting you back the second you got there. "No!" You shouted, screaming after them as the jet steadily kept going. You saw Clint in the driving seat and shared a look. You knew where they were going but you wanted to go as well. The screams didn't subside with the look, instead you only kept at the obscenities you shouted, getting more and angrier at them. When it was finally out of sight, you crumpled to the floor tears falling down relentlessly.

"Idiots." You muttered, wiping the tears away, sniffing as you went back into the Tower, downstairs until you got to the garage. It was unprotected after JARVIS and in your anger, you used a blowtorch to get in. You couldn't resist putting a message on the top while you could. You let the metal cool as you stepped in. You saw a multitude of cars, all more than capable of making the journey. You went back inside to your room and packed everything you thought you would need, your phone charging as you packed.

Everything was done and you made your way back out to the garage, using another car to ram the door and then parked it back with a huge dent in it. The other car was brand new and you dented it a little on purpose as a testament to Tony, showing how angry you were. Food was packed but it was mainly whatever you could get your hands on. Snacks and nothing substantial as you snacked constantly, setting off on the long journey you had to get to Clint's 'safehouse'.

You ranted to yourself as you let the window down on the motorway, going crazy and poking your head out every now and then. "How dare they leave me? And so blatantly as well! I almost want to scream to them about how stupid they are! No, wait. Scratch that. I will scream to them about how stupid they are! The bloody idiots! I will give them a slap as well. God knows they deserve it for leaving me. Idiots!" You shouted to yourself about how infuriating they all were and how you so wanted to slap them.

You turned on the music, plugging your phone in and blasting your favourite music, screaming along to it, barely keeping within the speed limits. Driving with one hand was a new experience but speeding with one hand was thrilling and you felt like the line between sanity was blurred beyond comprehension in your rage. But you didn't really care.

On the smaller, deserted country lanes you sped horribly. You went too fast and felt the car jump a bit a few times. "Argh!" You choked out, your voice sounding strangled and throaty as your voice was taken away by the thrill. The thrill both terrified and made you laugh at the top of your lungs with all the windows down. "Whoo!" You shouted, the adrenaline coursing through your veins. You slowed down when you saw some other cars, not wanting to be back in the hospital any time soon. You barely registered the hours passing by as you kept going, fuelled by your anger.

You pulled up at a motel and walked in, your money hopefully being sufficient enough for the fare. The bell tingled as you walked in and no one else was there, making you bristle with fear but you walked up to the counter and called out a hesitant "Hello?" To see if anyone was there.

"For god's sake woman, I told you to just walk up to the bedroom, you don't need to find me first! The voice called back, annoyance clear in his tones. He walked up to the counter and stopped in the middle of his sentence. "I mean honestly- Oh, hello pretty lady, what can I do for you?" He asked, leaning on the counter in what he probably thought was a seductive manner as you took a step back from the counter.

"Um, I'd like to rent a room for the night please." You asked politely, trying to make your voice heard and get this transaction over and done with quickly.

"Who's the lucky guy?" He asked, the seductive tone gone as he thought you were with someone.

"Oh no, I'm not with anyone." You corrected quickly, the words falling out of your mouth as you mentally cursed. "I mean, I'm not just with anyone, I'm on my way to visit my fiancée." You lie, the words sounding awkward and forced from your mouth.

"Where's the ring?" He asked, seeing right through your lie.

"In my bag, don't want it to get lost." You say, trying to get some emotion back into your voice.

"Right, give it to me." He said, the words sounding more like an order. You stood there with a frown until he repeated the words. "I said, give it to me." He ordered again, the words being accompanied by the cocking of a gun. It wasn't in sight but you heard it clear enough. "Do I make myself clear?" He asked, a low growl in his voice. You were frozen as your hand moved towards your bag and made it look like you were going to get the ring out before you ran for it out the doors.

A gunshot rang out as you screamed, bolting towards the car. Another rang out as you zoomed off and you could hear a yell of anger and despair as you zoomed off. You waited until you were in another part of the country before parking the car and sleeping in that instead for the night. When you got out in the morning to stretch your limbs, you saw the bullet had hit the car.

A small hole had lodged itself in the paintwork, not being able to go any further past the metal. The car looked a complete mess, clothes strewn everywhere, snack wrappers and bottles littering the inside. The outside was worse with the bullet hole barely making an impression against the rest of the dirt splattered across the dark paint and the dent becoming more obvious with how much you looked at it.

You were still shaking from the gun and felt cold in the small breeze. You quickly ran back to the car, knowing there wouldn't be much you could do for the car now and Tony was rich enough to buy another. Fear crept into you and you had no more speed brakes, simply going on autopilot as you tried to see through the tears.

The entire rest of that drive, you'd just wanted Bruce. You wanted him there to tell you everything was alright and to give you a hug. You wanted him to be there and for you be on some fun road trip instead. You just wanted him there and pulling up at the 'safehouse' was a breath of relief. Your car and loud parking brought everyone out to see who it was and you got out to the entire Avengers, Cooper, Lila and Laura watching. Cooper and Lila ran towards you, happy to see you and you gave them a huge hug picking them both up and twirling them like they always liked. "Why are you crying?" Cooper asked, observant as ever.

"I'm just happy to see you two of course!" You lie blatantly, giving him another hug as Lila asked for a piggyback. You obliged, picking her up and putting her on the hood of the car so she could jump on. You held on to her, making sure she was secure and did laps around the car whooping and cheering happily. It did improve your mood but you were still crying and you couldn't stop.

"You can stop crying now, we're here!" Lila shouted behind you, making your breath hitch as you tried to keep the tears from falling like she asked.

"I'll try." You promised, more to yourself than her. "Ok, I'm going to put you down now. Can you stand on the hood?" You ask, going back to the car as she moaned but complied all the same. "I'm sorry Lila, I'm just tired. It's been a long trip." You apologise, helping her down as you grabbed your stuff, making a beeline for Laura, ignoring the Avengers as they made their way to you, Fury at the house as you glare at him as well. Thor wasn't there, but you were too angry to ask. "Hey Laura." You breathe as the woman smiles at you. She was one of your best friends. She was so wise and kind and she gave the best advice.

"Hey (Y/N), what happened, you're going to tell me everything later right?" Laura whispered in her ear as you embraced careful of the growing bumps on her stomach.

"Of course." You whisper back before pulling away, Cooper and Lila at your side as they ran back to the garden to play calling for you to come with them. You laugh breathlessly and turn back to Laura. "Do you have a room for me to put my stuff in?" You ask as she nods, smiling and gives you direction for you to find the room.

"Wait, (Y/N)!" Clint called after you, seeing something was obviously wrong.

"You don't get to talk to me. None of you do." You say firmly, not looking back but simply holding a finger up as more tears fell down visible to only Laura and Fury. Laura looked on worriedly as Clint backed away, holding an arm out for the other Avengers to stop as well as they raced after you. Fury only watched, the slightest trace of worry on his face, barely noticeable.

You just walked past him and followed Laura's directions before leaving through the back door and finding Cooper and Lila playing in the back and spent the rest of the afternoon with them. You ended up, sitting on the grass with Lila who was making daisy chains as you took a break from 'It' with Cooper. He flopped next to you as well and you smiled at the 3 of you together.

"Auntie (Y/N)?" Lila asked, after having picked a sufficient amount of daisies to start some more threading. You'd always liked the whole Auntie thing but you insisted they just call you by your name if they wanted to. "Why is Daddy back? He normally calls. And what happened to your hand?" Lila observed with the same wit as her mother and you shift on the grass.

"Yeah, he does. What happened? Did something bad happen?" Cooper asked, chipping into the conversation.

"Yeah, something had happened. A huge robot, but don't worry we're going to take care of it." You reassure, confused at your honesty. What were you saying? At least you didn't say everything.

"How?" Lila asked, panic obvious in her voice and Cooper's expression.

"You've seen your Dad haven't you?" You ask, pretending not to know as they nod slowly a bit confused. "Well then you know that he's fully capable of taking down a robot. And if he can't, he's got us. Iron Man, Captain America, Auntie Nat, Thor and…" You swallow, trying to get the words out. "The Hulk." You finish. It was much easier to call them by their superhero names.

"Dr Banner looked a bit sad today." Lila stated, making you inhale sharply.

"Oh?" You ask, a bit miffed at this revelation. Why on earth would 'Dr Banner' be sad?

"Yeah, he was moping around in just his pyjamas." Cooper informed as he giggled a little obviously never having a grown man lounge around, moping in his pyjamas. You let out a little laugh before realising what you were doing. You carried on talking, but it was more automatic now and it was getting dark so you hurried the children inside to play in their rooms. You ignored everyone but Laura and the children. They were all talking about Ultron probably but you just forgot them, holding your head up proudly as you walked. You simply strode past them all, pretending they didn't exist as you asked Laura if you could have a shower.

"Of course, there's a towel on the radiator and you can use one of my dressing gowns." Laura offered, earning her a smile as you dragged your tired body upstairs to ease your muscles underneath the jets of hot water. You didn't take too long and just washed your hair quickly and got out of there, drying yourself off, preferring to let your hair air dry. The damp lock were brushed as you sat in your dressing gown, just taking a breath from everything that had happened the past few days.

"Hey." Bruce called, walking into your shared room with separate beds. You'd been conflicted over what to do when you recognised his stuff on the bed but just sucked it up and put your stuff down. You shouldn't have to move because of him. You felt even more conflicted now you knew he'd been moping around all day but just the thought of how he left you made your anger come rushing back. You didn't reply and he sighed, running a hand through his messy curls, sitting on his bed wondering what else to say as you fussed with your hair and ignored him.

You walked to your suitcases as you got out some nightclothes and other essentials bending down to get them all out. The bed was nearest as you laid them all on there and started to apply them. You got your phone and used it as a mirror, sitting down again as Bruce watched worriedly. "(Y/N), I, I'm so sorry," Bruce began, stumbling over his words but was interrupted by your sudden exit. You took the clothes with you in one hand, balancing them on one hip and rushed out of the room.

The bathroom was the closest and you changed, taking your time and walked back in to find Bruce still sitting there, waiting for you. Your breath hitched in your throat at the sight of him and you cursed under your breath before walking in. You simply grabbed your phone and jacket quickly and strode out again.

You were about to take a breath, still striding out of the room when your wrist brace was grabbed by Bruce who was still trying to make amends. You stopped at the contact, your breath getting heavier. "(Y/N), please let me explain." He pleaded to your back as you tried to keep the tears from falling. At his words, you whipped around looking him in the eyes.

"You think I want to listen? I know this is hard but you couldn't have waited for me? You were just going to leave me there. And I was what? Supposed to hide and wait until the Avengers came and saved the day? What about my friends? My family?" You question, bitterness seeping into every word. Your eyes were shining over, but you paid it no attention, just staring at Bruce.

"I'm so sorry about leaving you behind, but I couldn't control what Ultron did. I promise, I'll take you to see your friends-" Bruce spoke quickly, trying to make amends stopping as you scoffed. You'd turned away when he started talking, but flicked your head back when he said that.

"Not what I meant. My friends and family left me." You say, the words dripping venom. Bruce looked down shamefully as he tried to think of a suitable response. His head snapped back as you carried on talking. "They left me to deal with things on my own and make a trip myself, leaving me alone with the 'bad guys'." You say, your voice losing the venom and gaining more of the whisper. It wasn't as strong as it was, the experience had left you scarred as you tried to not cry.

"The bad guys?" He asked, looking into your shining eyes. He was confused and you breathed in through your nose quickly, trying to keep the tears at bay. It didn't work and your vision blurred, the pools widening in your eyes as you tried to blink them back. You saw Bruce raise a hand to hold you and you immediately pulled away. You don't know what made you have such a reaction, but you violently pulled your hand away, unhinging the bandages, walking downstairs faster to get away from Bruce. The tears fell and you sniffed, wiping them away as more fell.

You didn't know where they came from but you finally managed to get them somewhat under control. You entered the kitchen where Laura Barton was relaxing, making a cup of tea to drink on the couch when she saw you and your red, puffy eyes with the tear stains still on your face.

"(Y/N)? What happened?" She asked worriedly, rushing over to you as you lost your newfound control, melting again in Laura's arms. The tea was forgotten as she guided you over to the couch where you sat crying. She sat down carefully, holding her arms around you comfortingly. "(Y/N)? Calm down, just tell me what happened." Laura whispered soothingly as you leant into her warm embrace. You just sighed, feeling so emotionally drained, crying more into Laura's arms. Were you ready to confess everything that had happened? If you were honest, Laura was the only one you would confess everything to. It was now or never.

9


	9. Book 1: Chapter 9

Bruce Confession Short Story P9:

"(Y/N)? What happened?" She asked worriedly, rushing over to you as you lost your newfound control, melting again in Laura's arms. The tea was forgotten as she guided you over to the couch where you sat crying. She sat down carefully, holding her arms around you comfortingly. "(Y/N)? Calm down, just tell me what happened." Laura whispered soothingly as you leant into her warm embrace. You just sighed, feeling so emotionally drained, crying more into Laura's arms. Were you ready to confess everything that had happened? If you were honest, Laura was the only one you would confess everything to. It was now or never.

"My trip was eventful." You confess, trying to word things properly before more tears fell. Laura dabbed at your face carefully with a tissue as you sniffed, smiling at her caring, motherly nature. You fiddled gently with your bandages, reapplying them properly and securing the wrist brace.

"What happened?" Laura asked again, trying to keep you clean as she stroked your hair. You heard footsteps on the stairs but didn't register it properly in your emotional state.

"They left without me. I woke up and looked everywhere and then I went to the roof. The Quinjet was taking off and they didn't wait for me, they just took off. I looked at Clint's face. I knew he was coming here." You say vehemently, your anger coming back. "He saw me and didn't wait. I had no one. I was left in the Tower alone, so I packed. I spent half the day packing and then I stole Tony's car from the garage." You sniffed a little, trying to pass it off as a laugh as you remembered the carnage you left behind. Laura knew you and squeezed your shoulder a little.

"I bet you're going to lose Tony a lot of money you are." She joked with you as you sniffed again, smiling as more tears fell.

"Yeah, I'm not going to deny it. Serves them right. They can all chip in and it can serve as punishment for leaving me." You say vengefully, smiling a lot more. Laura let out a light laugh beside you and you joined in, your voice raspy and hurting from the stress it had been under for the past weeks. "I got to a motel. There was a guy there. He was quite seedy and horrible at flirting." You say, trying to ease Laura's death grip as she realised what you were implying.

"I told him I had a fiancée to get away but he asked about the ring. I said it was in my bag and he pulled a gun to rob me. I ran for it and I heard a gunshot." You say, reminiscing, the painful memories engulfing you as you tried to break out of your trance. "So close." You whisper, trying to forget. "I heard another as I ran to the car." You told Laura who was entranced, her anger practically radiating off of her. "I ran as fast as I could." You try to convince Laura who smiled sympathetically. You sighed, leaning more into her.

"What did you do?" She asked, her interest peaked.

"I sped off." You say venom lining your words as Laura laughed, smiling at your words. She immediately sobered up but you enjoyed her laugh. The whole situation was a nightmare but you preferred Laura without the death glare. You laugh, prompting her to join in as you both sobbed and laughed at the same time, trying to comfort each other.

"Tell me who he is and I'll kick his ass." Laura threatened, making you laugh more as she treated you like another sister, kissing the top of your head, comforting you consequently making you yearn for Liv. You loved Laura like a sister as well, but after having so much recent contact with Liv, the sudden block made you feel so isolated, even when you were cradled in Laura's arms.

"Even with your baby bump?" You question, glad to be off the topic.

"My baby will learn how to kick arse and which ones to kick. Like the twats in those motels." Laura defended her action, making you laugh. "Plus Nathaniel will learn how to respect women and not rob anyone." Laura spoke, dropping the gender bomb, making you gasp as you sat straight up.

"Nathaniel?" You ask, your entire face lit up with happiness. "Oh my God Laura! I'm so happy for you!" You shout, throwing your arms around her neck forgetting to be careful but you were reminded quickly by Laura.

"Be careful of Nathaniel!" She spoke joyously as you pulled away.

"Of course!" You say, bending to the belly. "Hey little Nathaniel! How are you doing in there? I promise, you'll be safe in the world but have fun maturing in there because you are going to have so much fun with me. I'm going to give you the best childhood ever." You whisper as Laura puts a hand on her stomach, trying to soothe it. She giggles at your words and puts her hands on your hair, raking through it gently as you close your eyes for a moment, enjoying the caressing movement. "Thanks Laura." You breathe looking back up to her as she smiles motherly at you.

"It's nothing. Anyway, when are you going to be able to sympathise with me?" Laura asked cheekily, trying to be indirect and getting up to go to the kettle.

"Oh my God! You're just as bad as Liv!" You say, clapping your hands to your face mortified. That was so embarrassing.

"What?" Laura laughed innocently. "I'm just saying. It's an innocent question." She defended, pouring two cups of tea for you as well.

"That is anything but innocent!" You say stressing the 'but'. "Why is it that everyone in my life wants to know if I will ever meet anyone? Maybe I'm happy single?" You suggest, as if it is a radical notion.

"Yes maybe, but you will be much happier married. And you know what the next step is." Laura smiled suggestively as you put your hands over your eyes, not wanting to look. You heard the clinking of cups and heard her come back to the couch and you peeled your hands away.

"No, no, no, I don't want to know what the next step is. No thanks." You say, dismissing it with as much vigour as a teenager who has just found out what happens.

"Don't be so childish, I just want to know if you'll finally find a special guy." Laura scolded, pretending to be stern but a smile played on her face.

"I'll never find that 'special guy' as you put it. I don't want to. Not right now." You dismiss, thoughts of Bruce invading your mind as Laura watched you closely.

"Do you like someone?" She asked, her eyes widening to the size of saucers, her smile widening at the same time.

"What?" You say, shocked. "No! No, I don't, how the hell did you get to that?" You ask, mortified.

"Deduction skills. Or maybe you are just too easy to read." Laura answered cryptically.

"I'm not that easy to read!" You protest, trying to keep the tea steady as it warmed your hands.

"Yes you are. Now tell me who this crush is." Laura countered, dismissing her potential arguments.

"Fine." You answer, giving in. "I met this guy at the coffee shop. It was like a fairytale, he caught my coffee when I was paying at the same time and offered to buy me another. We sat down to talk and I've been talking to him a lot recently. I went out of work with a fake excuse to meet up with him. I got a bit side-tracked and had to rush to make it back. It is a crush because I don't know if he likes me back but I think he might." You say, making up a completely fake story, hoping to convince her. Needless to say, it worked.

"Seriously? That's so cute!" Laura gushed, smiling at you. You smiled back, trying to hide the smirk that was threatening to blow your cover. You had to act that shy, cute smile to convince her and took a sip of tea to cover it but you swore you heard feet pattering away.

"Is there someone there?" You whispered, looking around before Laura spoke again.

"It was a lie wasn't it?" She asked, deadpanning as you smile, turning your attention back to her.

"Yep." You reply, popping the 'p' to really rub it in her face.

"So who is your crush if it's not the coffee guy?" Laura asked, moving on quick enough.

"Someone I'm angry at but not normally." You hint, before giving her a hug and whispering in her ear, "Someone who is kind and the complete opposite of what he'd known for." You clue again, before getting up and taking the cup to your room, leaving Laura to puzzle over the meaning herself.

The cup was still warm in your hands and you sipped gently from it, your bad mood gone. You walked in to find Bruce gone and shrugged it off. You had been quite rude with him and preferred to just wait for him to try and apologise again to forgive him. And you would wait for the other Avengers to apologise as well. You were not going to just forgive everyone with just a snap of your fingers. That was not how it worked. You needed to hear the apologies. Mainly for your amusement as well as basic etiquette.

You finished the cup of tea after looking on your phone to find the internet gone crazy so you just played a few games to pass the time while you drank the tea. It was finished and the cup had gone stone cold as you placed it on the dresser, too tired to be bothered to go back downstairs. You changed into your comfiest nightclothes which was just a vest and pyjamas as you hung a jumper on the wood frame of the bed, thinking ahead to the morning.

You let out a sigh as you went to the light and turned it off, using your phone light to guide your way back. You placed it on the dresser beside your bed, the flashlight still on as you went to sleep before turning it off. You let your hair out and flicked it behind you so you could sleep properly. No hair going in your mouth but no annoying pain in your head the second you wake up because the ponytail had been digging into your head all night.

Your eyes closed and that was it. Morpheus had claimed you until the morning. You had a dreamless sleep, simply hearing soothing music as you warmed under the covers, holding it above you. A few hours passed as you shifted unconscious to the world and warmed enough to have your hands outside the covers, your position changed to lying mostly on your front, your back to the sky.

A person walked into the room and under the light of the phone, changed his clothes and got ready for bed himself. He saw you shift again as you moved a little to flick some hair out of your face, most of it hanging off the side of the bed. You shifted back onto the bed and the stray hair on your face seemed to irritate you and hurt your sleep.

He walked over and knelt beside you so the light wouldn't blind him. He saw your face and was about to say a few words before just deciding against it and settling for brushing the hair out of your face instead. His fingers lightly combed your skin as you sighed peacefully, he kept moving the stray hairs out of your face. He broke out of it quickly enough, realising how disrespectful he was being. He climbed into his bed and turned off the flashlight for you before trying to sleep himself.

The morning came and the light shone on your face as you flinched from the harsh brightness of it before waking up with various moans and groans. You woke up first and watched as Bruce groaned and shifted slightly, but what made you look the most was the slight sheen of sweat and how pale he seemed. He seemed so scared.

You supposed he had every right to, but you'd never seen him looking so scared. You wondered what it was specifically that scared him so, but you couldn't pinpoint it. There was so much stuff going on in the world that it was hard to focus on a single thing that might terrify him to such an extent.

He groaned again as he began to wake up and you snapped out of it and grabbed your jumper, putting it on. Before he could focus, you let it fly out behind you as you ran to the bathroom and waited for sound of any movement. You heard the creaking of the wood frame and quickly began to turn the tap on washing your face with it to wake you up.

You brushed your teeth and got ready for the morning, waiting a few extra moments, trying to compose yourself before walking out. Bruce wasn't there and you took advantage of the empty room to change your clothes. You opened the door to signal to anyone they could enter as you started to brush your hair.

You had opted for light blue skinny jeans with a belt that wasn't visible under the flowery top you had on and a smiley face cardigan on top. Even in the heat, you felt weird without a lab coat to wear on top. You hair was brushed back into a half ponytail that was relaxed but still stylish. You didn't have to make yourself entirely presentable today, but it was force of habit. Slippers were easier to wear in the heat and you walked downstairs, smiling at the slapping sound your slippers made on the wood floor.

The second you walked into the living room where you'd let out all of your problems the other night, Clint immediately got up. Bruce looked up at almost the same time without needing to be nudged by anyone. The rest of the Avengers were there as well but they waited respectfully for Clint to go first. "(Y/N), I'm so sorry I didn't wait but we thought we were keeping you safe. I didn't think you'd come here, I'm so sor-" Clint spoke in a rushed voice but was silenced by your raised hand.

"Clint, its fine. Yes, I admit I was incredibly angry yesterday but that was only because I'd had a, tough, trip." You say, struggling to find the right word as Laura watched you and smiled when you forgave them. But her glare at the others showed _she_ hadn't forgiven them.

"What do you mean tough trip? What happened?" Clint asked, glad to be forgiven.

"I'm sure Mrs Barton over there can explain." You smile, gesturing to Laura who smiled back. You both knew she was going to be lecturing all of them, despite the fact they were the Avengers. Family came first, was a principle Laura Barton held very close to her heart. Another, was always slap idiots or make them regret their actions. "Where Cooper and Lila?" You ask, not wanting to be there when Laura kicked off. You'd had more than enough experience with angry pregnant women.

"Outside." Laura replied simply and you walked out to see the two children with a little helicopter but not before you heard the start of Laura's rant. You couldn't express your gratitude for the woman and smiled widely as you heard her words. "Yeah, maybe I can explain but you left her alone. Tell me about that first. Why you left her and why you ever thought it was an acceptable idea. That she would be safer in the city where technology was everywhere and Ultron could've easily taken her instead with me in this house. You came here to be safe and thought she'd be safer in the city. Explain that logic to me please. One of you. Come on, Avengers. And no one can tell me why?" She ranted, looking at them all, her earlier awe gone.

You left and walked up to their children, whose back were turned away from you. You walked up behind them and scared them both. "Boo!" You shouted behind them both and they reciprocated with screams of their own before turning to see you. Their screams dissolved into giggles and laughter. "What are you doing?" You asked as they calmed themselves down.

"We're just flying this cool helicopter Mum got for my birthday." Cooper told you as you inspected the helicopter.

"Cool. How are you doing then?" You ask, wanting the news.

"We're doing ok, but Cooper can't control it very well and I'm a bit scared to try because it might eat my hair." Lila told you as you furrow your eyebrows at Cooper. What tales had he been telling her?

"I don't think it will eat your hair. You can try if you want." You offer to Lila who shied away, still scared of what Cooper had told her. "Look, I'll do it. My hair's almost as long as yours. I promise it won't eat it." You compromise, not wanting Lila to miss out. She nods and you take the remote controls from Cooper and quickly scan the packaging to see what to do. The controls are pretty easy, down for down/landing, up for up and so and so. A small button on the side to turn it on and off, a joystick to sway it in different directions.

"Ok, here we go." You breathe to yourself turning it on. You keep your finger pressed on the up button and use the joystick to turn it around. It went too far and you cry out, trying not to crash it. Your entire upper body twists as well, trying to get the helicopter to copy your movements as you sway from side to side having near misses and such before you start to get the hang of it. You move the children further into the fields so they don't have to hear their mother's rants, using the helicopter. The radio signal was quite good and you just had to run after it quick enough.

"You're doing it!" Cooper yelled in joy as you laughed breathlessly. You were having so much fun running after a helicopter you were controlling. It was pointless and random but it was the best thing you'd done in a long time. Although it had only been a few days ago that you had been kissing Bruce, it felt like a lifetime ago. This was the first pure ray of sunshine that didn't have strings attached that you could enjoy.

"Yeah! You want to try?" You ask, seeing his longing look and knowing you probably shouldn't hog it. Lila was entranced as well as you smiled at her. You bent down, "You brave enough to try now?" You ask, smiling at her. She nods shyly as you watch Cooper having such fun as he managed to avoid a near miss with the ground. "You can have a go after Cooper. Fair?" You ask, waiting for the nod that came promptly.

Cooper had his few minutes and then Lila did, both thoroughly enjoying the experience as you watch, occasionally helping and advising but mostly just having fun with them. An hour passes when you check your watch and you decide to head back for a drink. You bring them back for a few moments as well, hoping their mother's rant would be over by then. It was and you entered to get some squash as they followed, directing you to the high glasses cupboard you open, letting the door fly upwards to the ceiling as you grimace, wondering how you were going to get that back.

You take out 3 glasses as they open the fridge knowing exactly what they were doing. After they all finish their drinks they run back out and you say you'll join them in a moment after you finish your glass as well. You place their glasses in the sink, finishing yours and placing it with them. You then wipe off the squash spilt when they poured it in and try and reach on your tip toes to get the cupboard door down but you can't reach. "Urgh!" You say, reaching as hard as you could, hoping the door might just come down by itself, helping you out.

Bruce walked in at that exact moment and you see him and put your hand down and pull down your shirt that had gone up, revealing some skin replacing it over the jeans. "Oh, hey (Y/N). I need to talk to you." Bruce says, his bad mood obvious.

"Sure Bruce, what happened?" You ask, having forgotten about everything that happened after having fun with Cooper and Lila.

"Mrs Barton told us what happened and I feel terrible. The other Avengers have gone on a mission to bring the man to justice and punch the daylights out of him and I promise I want to be first in line." Bruce reassures you and your stomach drops as you remember his disgusting features twisting to make a growl with his words and his gun cocking loudly with the sole intention to scare you. You raised a hand to your neck, soothing it as you rub gently.

"I didn't go because I didn't think it would be very smart to Hulk out." Bruce admits, making you smile. Bruce would Hulk out for you? "I completely understand your anger and will give you all the space you need I promise. I'm so sorry (Y/N)." Bruce apologises again before moving to leave the room. You grab his wrist like he did the night before. Bruce turns around, his face lined with confusion as he looks at your face then down at your entwined arms.

"Bruce, I'm not angry." You say as his confusion turns to hope. He looks up to your face as you smile back. "I was, I'm not going to deny. I was so ready to slap you all but I just, it's subsided." You say, for lack of a better explanation. "I just wanted you, all when it happened." You say, correcting your mistake with more words. "It was terrifying and I hated it so much," You say, sighing as you bow your head, not able to think of a better explanation.

"But I just longed to see you. I just wanted to see you and talk." You admit, a blush staining your cheeks. You were so happy your face was bowed but it was still visible to Bruce. "But then when I saw you, I couldn't help it. I was so angry. All of the anger that had set me off on the trip came rushing back but, I'm not angry anymore." You reassure Bruce who just smiled at your words.

"So I don't have to run and hide?" He asked with a cheeky smile.

"No, not unless you leave me again. Then you better run because when I find you again, you are so getting slapped." You threaten, holding up the other hand, pretending to scold him.

"I won't. I promise." Bruce spoke solemnly, staring straight into your eyes. That gaze felt like it lasted forever.

"Why did you even leave me behind? I'm sure the idiocy of your plans have been pointed out to you by the lovely Laura." You smile, remembering her rant. "Why did you do it?" You ask, finalising your question.

"I don't know. I thought we were doing the right thing. It felt like saving you, knowing that Fury would be there, protecting you, but then again, he was here." Bruce tried to explain, using his hands as you let go of them. You were still standing close to each other and you tried to find a question or remark, or anything to keep the conversation going. You needed something.

"You know, sometimes it is really hard being short." You say, walking away, back to the cupboard door as you reached up again. It was still too high and you felt your shirt go up as well but you ignored it. Whatever. Bruce came up behind you and put his hand on yours, pulling it upwards with his to put on the handle.

You felt your fingertips brush it and with Bruce's help, you reached it and it came down, slotting nicely back into place. Your hand was still enclosed in Bruce's and you turned to find him standing right there. You both looked at each other and smiled with a glint in your eyes. Then Cooper came running in, his excitement easy to see.

"Auntie (Y/N), are you coming or what?" He shouted quickly before running back out, making it obvious his patience had run out. You chuckled, aiming it downwards before looking back up to see Bruce still standing there. You didn't want him to move but knew you had to.

"I better go." You say as an excuse for him to move his hand. He caught on quickly and nodded, murmuring his "Yeah's" as you moved away to the garden door. "Bruce?" You asked, an idea popping out of nowhere. He turned at the mention of his name and you smiled at him. "Want to come play outside?" You asked, only childish joy lighting up your features and the hope that you'd spend more time together.

He smiled back in confirmation and walked to the door with you. You entwined your able fingers with his without looking at him, hoping he wouldn't pull away. Instead he seemed happy to and kept them together. Cooper was playing with it outside and passed it to Lila who was more confident in her abilities now.

She flew it wonderfully and had a few near misses, earning an "Ooh! That was a close one!" From you or Bruce who encouraged them wonderfully. You had both sat down on the grass, still holding hands and were watching them play, often challenging them to do new tricks with the helicopter. It was so wonderfully domestic, Bruce found himself pulled back to the dream he'd had, bringing you back from the hospital.

It felt like a lifetime away that he'd dreamt it but it was still fresh in his mind and he could remember every detail. How you two embraced with a kiss, happy to be together again. How you had a spring in your step, just from being at home. How you curled up next to him on the sofa, enjoying each other's warmth.

"Hey Bruce, you want to try?" You ask, snapping him out of his daydream. He looked at you with confusion before your words registered in his brain and he started to refuse.

"No, I can't do that. Plus, Cooper and Lila are doing so well, I don't want to interfere." Bruce refused, gesturing to the children who smiled at you. You all knew what he was doing and weren't going to let him get away with it.

"But you have to try Sir, please!" Cooper asked, his impeccable manners obvious, despite his loud, pleading tone. Bruce looked taken aback with the words, probably hoping his excuse would be enough.

"Um, I can't. I don't know how to use it." Bruce answered, trying to make up another excuse.

"Auntie (Y/N) can teach you!" Lila answered, always one to come up with solutions. However, this one struck you dumb. You froze at her words, hoping she would just disregard them as nonsense but she only elaborated. "I need to get a drink. Cooper can help me and Auntie (Y/N) can teach you!" She summarised, coming up with a perfect solution had it not been for the fact that you were feeling incredibly awkward at the thought of trying to teach Bruce how to fly a helicopter. Albeit a small one. They didn't let you or Bruce interrupt as they ran into the house to get their drinks and you two still sat there, hands entwined. Neither of you seemed to want to let go. "Go on!" Lila shouted from behind them as they both turned to see her at the kitchen window, urging you two on.

"Um, do need some help?" You ask a bit confused as to what to do.

"Yeah, can you just explain to me what to do with the controls? I've forgotten how to use stuff like this." Bruce admitted sheepishly. He averted his eyes from your gaze as you smiled at his words.

"Sure, that's fine. So, the..." You explain, pointing to various controls and telling Bruce what they meant. He watched intently and occasionally murmured and 'ok'. You tried to keep your gaze on the controls instead of his face and consequently didn't see his gaze on your face. He had a smile watching your small blush in the heat of the day.

You kept tucking the strand of hair behind your ears and it just reminded him of that day in the Avengers Tower. It made him smile to think of it and you finished speaking as your words registered in his nervous brain. "Do you think you're ready to try it?" You ask, finally looking up at Bruce to see him quickly flick his eyes back to the controls and you blush harder as the thought of him looking at you the entire time entered your mind.

"Probably not, but I'll try." He compromised, looking back up at you, trying to act nonchalantly. You smiled encouragingly and he gently took the controls as you pointed him to the 'on' button. He smiled gratefully and followed your silent instruction. He got up and held out a hand to you which you happily took, letting him pull you up. You walk up to the helicopter and pick it up and nod at him to start flying it.

He takes a breath and starts flying it upwards and you duck out of the way, running back to his side. He manages to control it for a few seconds and then it starts to swerve dangerously as he loses control. Your uninjured hand grabbed his and he looked at you for a moment as you were both frozen in time before you manage to gain control and get the helicopter back in the air properly. You controlled Bruce's hands while he holds the actual controls.

You can feel his warmth and try not to freeze while you're landing the helicopter, hoping not to crash it. When it's safely on the ground, you turn to Bruce and see his look. Your breath hitches as you try to remove your hand, looking down to avoid his gaze. However, he keeps hold of them, not letting you remove them and you look back up to see his small smile. You reciprocate gladly and keep hold of his hands as he looks into your eyes.

You feel your gaze deepening as you lean in. But at the last moment, when you're so close, he stops. You stop as well, closing your parted lips as you look at him confused. Why did he stop? Did he not want to kiss you? The thoughts ran through your mind so quickly, your embarrassment escalating quickly before he speaks. "I'm sorry, I just. I didn't think I should, what with your crush on that coffee guy. I overstepped the mark." Bruce apologised, stepping back as you swallow nothing.

You wanted to tell him that he can kiss you and to forget it, but you don't. Instead your reply is choking and you hate the words coming out of your mouth. They taste foul but you say it anyway. "No, no it's fine. Thank you for being so, considerate." You say, regret tinting your words as you step back as well, the distance proving too much as you release his hands. He seems a bit sad at your gesture, but you barely register it, too awkward to think about it.

"Um, I'm going to check on Cooper and," You say, not finishing as you point behind you. Bruce just nods, no words forming in his mind as he saw your retreat. You turn around and take a breath, before steadily moving forwards. You make it to the kitchen without faltering and walk straight past it to the children sitting in the living room, watching T.V. with snacks and enjoying themselves. You clear your throat to get their attention and shoot them your stern glare with a small smile when they turn around at the noise, fear plastered on their faces.

"Auntie!" Lila yelled in surprise. "How are you?" She asked with a small smile, trying to appeal to your better nature.

"Oh I'm fine. I've just been outside where I thought you were going to be as well." You say, tilting your head in fake indignation.

"Um, we were but we just got a bit bored so we came here." Cooper made up his excuse, obviously proud but still pretending to be innocent.

"Oh, so you won't mind that we crashed the helicopter?" You ask pretending to be sorry as they both rush past you with surprised yelps, straight out into the garden. You smirk, following them out into the garden where Bruce was overrun and flustered. You broke your calm demeanour and ran to help him. "Hey Bruce. Sorry, I just told them the helicopter was broken." You apologise as he was pelted with questions.

"You lied to us?" Lila shouted, more as a question than a statement. She turned to you with a mouth wide open and shock tinting it.

"Yeah, because you left me here. You didn't come back." You say, apologising in your own way.

"But that was Mum! She told us to watch T.V.!" Cooper defended, his anger flaring as you harden.

"Laura did this?" You whisper to yourself before straightening up. "Sorry guys, I got the wrong person. You guys can play with the helicopter or something. I've got to go." You excuse yourself in a rush before running back into the house. But before you go you hear Cooper and Lila cheering at your words.

"Yay! We get to stay with Uncle Bruce!" They say as you almost freeze. Auntie and Uncle. Crap. Laura had probably told them that as well, now that you thought about it. You strode purposefully setting your face and trying not to waver when you heard Bruce's nervous laughter outside. It made you smile but you had to keep your face straight as you found Laura on the stairs contending with two baskets. You immediately crumbled and grabbed one from her to ease the load while she panted, walking downstairs. She was pregnant as well, it must've been a huge strain she shouldn't have had to take.

"Hey Laura." You greet, holding the basket easily before putting it down and starting to pack the load into the washing machine, whilst doing the normal procedure like checking the pockets for anything that shouldn't go in the wash and putting the detergent on the collar of a shirt. Laura seemed relieved to have your help and leant against the shelf for a breath before greeting you.

"Hey (Y/N). Thanks for the help." She greeted smiling at you as you kept going in a steady pattern.

"It's alright, you shouldn't be doing so much work." You chastise, smiling at her with a waggling finger.

"Because of my pregnancy? How would you know?" She asked, raising an eyebrow while smiling.

"What do you mean? I've had to deal with pregnant Liv too many times to count." You ask, feigning ignorance to her underlying question.

"I mean, when am I going to have to help you instead of the other way around?" Laura asked, forgetting all subtlety and just asking the question.

"Um, let me think about that… never." You say, pretending to play along before deadpanning.

"Why not?" Laura moaned, uncharacteristically but then, she was pregnant. It was probably one of her moods.

"Because I don't like anyone!" You moan back, lying through your teeth.

"That's a lie!" She yells with excitement. "You like someone and I know who it is!" She spoke in a sing song voice, teasing you as you blush red.

"I don't like anyone." You reaffirm, trying not to look at her and confirm her words.

"You like Bruce." Laura whispered, leaning heavily on the shelf as she just gave up moments later and got to her knees like you.

"About that, I think he heard me the other night. He said he shouldn't have overstepped the mark because of the coffee guy. I mean, I knew I heard feet pattering away but I just thought it was probably Cooper or Lila." You say, thinking to yourself out loud as Laura catches on to your words.

"Wait what? How did he 'overstep the mark'? You didn't?" She breathed, excitement in her eyes.

"No! Nothing like that! We were outside and I had grabbed his hands to control the helicopter, he wasn't too good at it. Then we looked at each other and you know, leaned in. Then he stopped." You recount, blushing profusely as you thought about it.

"What? You almost, kissed?" Laura whispered, leaning in to make sure no one heard.

"Yeah, but then he stopped and said something about my crush on the coffee guy!" You say, getting into the conversation as you forget the resto of the clothes.

"But the coffee guy doesn't exist!" Laura contended.

"I know! But he heard and now he thinks it's real! He didn't stay long enough to hear you say anything about how it was fake! And I didn't correct him because I'm such an idiot and I couldn't concentrate!" You say, before blushing at your words.

"Why not? Too preoccupied with a certain someone's lips?" Laura teases, sounding a lot like Liv. You roll your eyes even though a smile stretches itself onto your face. There is no point denying what she said because you know it's true although you shrug and feign ignorance. "Oh you do! You really like him don't you?" Laura laughed, smiling at you.

"I don't know. He's cute. He's really cute actually, but I don't know what it is." You confess, your blush taking over. Suddenly someone clears their throat behind you and you jump, turning around to see Bruce and it's quite obvious he's been there for some time but not long enough like last time.

"Um, I was going to ask where the pans were. Cooper and Lila wanted popcorn with a movie." He explained, looking only at Laura as you sat mortified.

"Sure, they're in the drawer next to the sink." Laura tells him, making obvious signs to you to say something as Bruce nods and walks out of the room. "(Y/N)! Go say something! This is just going to get worse if you don't!" Laura whispered frantically to you as you panic. You try to say something but you can't find the words as Laura pulls you to your feet, pushing you out of the room as you find yourself rushing after Bruce.

"Bruce!" You shout as it becomes evident he will not stop. At the sound of your voice, he stops and turns 90 degrees, letting you catch up. You're stuck staring at only one side of his face as you swallow, trying to think of words to put into sentences that will make sense. "What did you hear?" You ask, needing to know what he heard first to actually amend things.

"Just you talking about the coffee guy with Mrs Barton. Nothing too important." Bruce brushed it off but there was obvious strain in his voice.

"Yeah, the thing is, there is no coffee guy." You confess, looking at the floor. "I made him up." You say, looking back up. "Laura kept asking when I was going to meet a guy and I made up a story about the coffee guy." You say, telling most of the truth. Bruce obviously doesn't believe you and you feel your heart sinking as you try to think of how to convince him. "It's the truth I swear. All the time I've been back, I've been talking to Liv not the random coffee guy." You try again, hoping he will finally believe you because you have no other words to try and convince him. He turns to face you.

"Look, (Y/N), you don't have to try to convince he's not real to get me not to say anything." Bruce interrupts your apparently futile attempts to make him understand.

"Bruce, that's not why I'm doing this." You say, almost choking on disbelief. He scoffs indiscreetly, his face turned away again, but you see it anyway. "It's not!" You say. Then an idea pops into your head. "Bruce, look at me." You order. "Bruce, Bruce please." You say, after a few attempts don't work. He turns a little and you decide to throw every caution to the wind and use your wrist brace to move his face to face you better.

"Bruce, look into my eyes. I don't like some random coffee guy because he doesn't exist. It was a lie and Laura knows that, we were just messing about." You say, still holding his face in your wrist brace. You don't know why, but you haven't removed your hand and you don't want to. "Laura just really wants me to go out with someone, her and everyone else in my life." You smile, rolling your eyes as you keep hold of his face, subconsciously rubbing your thumb up and down in a soothing motion.

"And do you want to go out with someone?" Bruce asked, the words coming out of his mouth formed the question you'd longed to hear for such a long time. You felt you breath hitch in your throat as you swallowed, trying to think up a response. Moments passed and all you did was look into each other's eyes. Underlying the question was another, so similar and yet not. It was in a league of its own and it was that that you responded to instead.

"Yes." You breathed, realising all the arguing you'd done with yourself was for nothing and this was right. Bruce brought his hand up to enclose yours in, stopping your thumb as he warmed your hand. You swallowed, the moment gone as your fears came flooding back and your mind felt so much more clouded.

"(Y/N), you know my fears. You know my hate. Don't forget it please, don't get tangled up in it. I've been trying, but I need your help." He pleaded, asking you another thing entirely as he removed your hand from his face. You swallowed again and took a step back, making him let go of your hand no matter how much you wanted him not to. You'd heard him, loud and clear. What he said wasn't distorted, you needed to respect his wishes. No matter how much it hurt you, it obviously hurt him more.

11


	10. Book 1: Chapter 10

Bruce Confession Short Story P10:

"(Y/N), you know my fears. You know my hate. Don't forget it please, don't get tangled up in it. I've been trying, but I need your help." He pleaded, asking you another thing entirely as he removed your hand from his face. You swallowed again and took a step back, making him let go of your hand no matter how much you wanted him not to. You'd heard him, loud and clear. What he said wasn't distorted, you needed to respect his wishes. No matter how much it hurt you, it obviously hurt him more.

"You need my help? You've got it." You say, out of friendship and love. You knew the boundaries now, you'd stick to them. Bruce had that sad smile on, which you reciprocated. The hand was pulled away as you moved back turning to the laundry room before diverting to outside. The fresh air, blowing your hair out of your face was a welcome change. You took a breath as it blew at you, the emptiness inside you growing as you walked and walked past the fenced garden and into whatever lied beyond.

The nature somehow stopped you from crying but the emptiness was inevitable and it felt like a hole in your stomach. You managed to keep going but as soon as you made it far enough, you stopped, your legs not being able to carry you any further as you sank down onto the tree. You sighed, the overwhelming events finally starting to catch up with you. What had just happened? So much in the space of about half an hour.

You picked at the grass, selecting blades of grass in no particular order, the steady picking growing more and more faster as you picked quicker and more violently, not paying attention to whether they ripped or not. It grew to a crescendo before you stopped, the effort taking too much out of your already tired body.

You simply cradled the blades, their dead bodies lying in your hands as you stroked them. You'd just killed them. All it took was for one pick. Was that how Ultron felt? Just one pick and the world would be pure? It had taken less than that to beat you, Bruce simply asking for distance, possibly for the rest of their working relationship and yet here she was, practically broken and picking at blades of grass.

The pathetic situation only made you laugh as you quickly dissolved into tears. You pulled your phone out, leaving the blades of grass in your pocket and checking all the voicemails you had from Liv. Your mother would be heart-breaking and anymore of that and you would be on the floor, sobbing your heart out until you were asleep.

And you didn't really want to sleep on the ground outside. Although it was soft, you hated bugs. Ok, rephrase that. You didn't 'hate' them, you just didn't like when they were flying about in your face or you were in danger out being stung by them. You were fine with them flying around, away from you, but any closer and you would run.

The voicemails were classic Liv, "Hey! Oh my God! I just saw what happened! This Ultron guy has taken over everything! What are we supposed to do? You're an Avenger right? So what are you going to do? I will help in any way I can. Heavily pregnant lady can get you practically anywhere!" Liv advertised, her enthusiasm making you laugh as you sobbed.

"But seriously, I don't think you'll be able to hear this because of this Ultron guy, but are you alright? I wouldn't and no offence, but you are just a scientist, not a super cool spy. What if you get in trouble? And if that happens, I'm going to whoop the Avenger's arse's, for not taking care of you. You're with them aren't you? Of course you are, you're fine with them. No need to worry although this might just make my waters break early." Liv sighed, talking fast so as to finish before something.

You wondered what she might be doing, probably with Jason, her smile growing as she kissed him, made popcorn and watched her favourite films. The thought made your heart ache and the hole grow wider as you longed for something like that. To be with her and just laugh at Jason's weird impressions of a posh person. The image you conjured up hurt you more than everything else, until the image of Bruce hurt even more. You remembered all of your time together, the jokes, the laughter, the amount of plasters.

It all flashed through your mind as you remembered slowly developing a crush on him and not even knowing until Liv pointed it out and ruined your friendship. That was mean, the rational side of you reprimanded. Liv didn't do anything bad, she just showed you what you would've realised anyway, just sooner. The events were still overwhelming, only about two weeks ago you were in Spain holidaying and having fun. Then you came back and everything went downhill from there, but there were a few amazing moments. You blushed at the memory of your kiss with Bruce. It was so unexpected and confusing but it was such a high.

Now it was all over. It was all gone. The hole just sat there, you let the tears fall but they mostly dried up on your face as you sat there. You weren't sad, that feeling had gone, and you were just empty. There was nothing to fill the shell, without Bruce. You sat there contemplative, your thoughts not progressing just staying in a circle but you didn't change them.

You were in a loop and barely noticed anything until the air got colder and you tried to move your stiff legs. It took so much effort to get up and move, you wondered why it was worth it. But you suddenly remembered everything else was still important. The memories of your mother came back, flooding you with hope and purpose. You had to make her proud like you always said.

So, Bruce didn't like you, so what? You could still work professionally with him and he could work with you too. He was the one who broke it off. To be honest, there was nothing to break off. You weren't in a relationship. Just a professional one and it was going to stay like that. You kept walking, the pins and needles slowly wearing off as you regained more movement in your legs. You made it to the house and just went straight to your room and grabbed some clothes for a shower.

You took a towel out of the cupboard and just had a quick 10 minute shower, trying to refresh yourself. The warm water soothed your aching muscles and you changed straight into your nightclothes, not bothering to do anything with your hair as it stayed in a towel for the next hour. You ate with the hair towel on and did everything with that, making everyone look and joke with you.

You didn't lie, you told them you were just too lazy to try and tame your hair and wanted to wait. Laura said it was fine so you just waited, the stress melting off of you as you relaxed with some tea like the night before. You finished and placed the cup in the sink before thinking again and going to put it in the dishwasher instead, not wanting to give Laura more work. You went to your room and brushed your hair, letting it air dry like the other night and simply used an Alice band to move it somewhat out of your face.

You walked back down the stairs and as you did, Fury stopped you. He placed a hand on your shoulder, stopping you from going any further. You flicked your head in his direction but he just handed you a card and you gritted your teeth before taking it. The Avengers had all apologised and you'd accepted while Fury had stayed out of your way, simply observing and you paid him no attention. You looked at the card and on it was an invitation. "Garden. 8:00"

You made your way out there still shivering although you'd grabbed a coat, the material still cold despite your body heat, it was still warming up. Fury of course, was fine in his long trenchcoat as usual. It billowed out behind him as he walked up to you and you mentally cursed it for making him look so cool even when you were angry with him. "You've been very proactive these last few days. The Avengers were twisting themselves with guilt over your dramatic entrance. However, the man is hospitalised and being taken care of by a few of my contacts. If you understand." Fury spoke, confusing you with his words.

Of course you were happy he had taken care of that disgusting slime, but did he think you'd been actively guilt tripping them? "I'm going to need you to motivate them. They're stuck in a loop, thinking they'll be safe in this haven. But Ultron is out there wrecking the entire world and they can't stay here. You need to do something else, you've forgiven them. Too early." Fury discussed, his words coming out in a fluid motion leaving you no time to process them. You just blinked at him, trying to understand what he meant.

"I didn't actively guilt trip them." You clarify, getting a weird look from Fury. "But you're right, we need to move. But I don't know what they saw, give me a day tops. I need to find out what they saw, I can deal with it then." You say, pretending to co-operate just to please Fury. "However, you left me. You left to meet them here and didn't take me. I think three little words are in order." You mock, leaning in closer to hear better as Fury grit his teeth at your implication.

"Are you asking for an apology? Someone had to go after them-" Fury stopped immediately at your smile. "Fine, I am sorry." He spoke, the words forced and awkward but you wouldn't have had it any other way. "I'm sorry if leaving you made you have a flashback." He added, smiling genuinely as you take a breath knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Perfect, I have a plan in mind." You say, happy with the outcome as you walked back inside, leaving the coat on the stand. You didn't stop for a second, your acting perfect and on point and you make your way up to the room not registering anything as you sat on the bed. You looked up from the card you'd kept in your hand, twisting it in your hands to see Bruce sat there awkwardly. He'd been writing on a piece of paper and was a bit confused at your entrance. You smiled apologetically before quickly averting your gaze. You hadn't fully recovered from the wound he'd left, mainly just ignoring the blood, but you were happy to ignore it some more.

You pulled out your phone and did some frantic tapping, the internet being the most obvious source of information and made a mental plan of what to do the next day. You tried not to register Bruce as he worked on something as well, his hand moving quickly up and down on the paper and he moved quickly between pen, pencil and paper. Hours passed on before you decided to call it a night.

You got up and stretched your limbs, the muscles protesting against the sudden movement. You grabbed a pair of night clothes and went to the bathroom to change. You walked back out, the bands around your wrist helpful as you tied your waves back into a messy bun sitting at the bottom of your neck. You made no effort to look nice as you were going to sleep, simply wanted maximum comfort.

"Bruce?" You asked, trying to get his attention as he worked. He looked surprised at your words and looked up to see you sitting opposite him in your bed. "I'm going to sleep, maybe you should too." You said, not knowing what possessed you to alert him to the time. You were planning to make no effort to tell him of your rest but the words just tumbled out. The thoughts ran through your head and you swallowed, settling for telling him and then unfolding the duvet to put on top of you as you turned your back to him, hoping he wouldn't find that as awkward as you did. Suddenly you didn't feel as tired as you were on high alert, listening for any sound made as you tried to force yourself to sleep, trying to even your breathing.

Your ears prickled at the sound of Bruce stifling a yawn and setting down his paper and walking into the bathroom as well. You waited patiently as he came back out and put everything away, then switched off the light before settling in bed himself. There was no noise after that and you resigned yourself to the fact that he'd gone to sleep.

You drifted off soon after that, no longer alert, your brain switching off as you had no memories of anything before the morning light came streaming through the window like it did before. You got ready the same as before, waking up moments before Bruce and racing to the bathroom to get ready. You walked out with hair brushed into the signature ponytail you always wore at work. You had work to do today.

You walked downstairs and made your way into the kitchen to pick up a piece of toast. You saw no Coco Pops and it was just a bitter reminder of what you'd lost because of Ultron and most importantly, what you had to regain. You ate the toast with simply butter on it and a glass of cranberry juice and smiled at Fury over the breakfast table. You walked into the garden but not before you put your plates and glass away.

You walked out, pulled out your phone and listened to another voicemail from Liv, prompting more tears from you and you made up the extra yourself. You weren't too bad at fake crying although this was pretty bad. You walked back in and pretended to mop at your fake tears, the entire act completely obvious to the Avengers who immediately rushed to you. "(Y/N)? Are you okay?" Tony asked, walking up to you to comfort you as you tried to concentrate on keeping the tears coming.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing." You say, attracting more attention. Soon they were all around you, wanting to see what it was.

"Something seems wrong My Lady." Thor spoke, his concern enough to make you stop crying altogether as you tried to keep the act going.

"It's just, my sister, she's so worried. She's pregnant and I don't know if I can make it in time for the pregnancy, I'll probably miss it if 'm honest. I actually listened to one of her voicemails." You confess, twisting the truth a little before you let more tears fall. You didn't look up but you could practically feel the sympathy rolling off of them.

"And I just feel so horrible. I can't even say anything back and I'm not listening to Mum's. That would be even worse." You carry on, more tears coming at the thought. It was becoming scarily real, but you used it instead of just repenting. After what you'd seen on the internet, you knew that you'd go to whatever lengths you needed to, to get the Avengers to do something about it. "She'd probably be biting my head off." You joke through the tears, making them all feel worse.

"Hey, it'll be fine." Steve tried, his words not doing much but no one had anything else to say.

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry, I know you're all doing whatever you can, I'm just being stupid but I can't help it." You say, purposely manipulating the knowledge you had. You knew that they weren't really doing much but they didn't know you knew that. To be fair, you'd just been playing with Cooper and Lila and figuring out your feelings for Bruce. Well, that was gone so you had time to focus on other things as well. Your plan was almost fool-proof but then again, there was assassins who did this on a daily basis in the room. Hopefully Natasha would understand your reasons and Clint was a completely different man around his family.

"You're not stupid, it's not your fault." Steve tried again, his words doing nothing but indicating his guilty conscience that everyone else shared as well.

"Yeah, I just need to go clean up. I'm sorry again." You say, sniffling as you move away from the crowd. You head up the stairs, sniffling more for effect before heading up the stairs slowly, having practiced every move mentally the night before. You walked to the bathroom and washed your face, removing most trace of tears before walking out to put the next part of your plan into action.

As you walked out, you found Bruce sitting on his bed and he looked up at your footsteps. You tried not to freeze and kept walking to your bed to sit down. "Hey (Y/N), I heard you were crying, I came to check on you." He spoke and you felt a lump rise in your throat. You couldn't respond to his words and immediately tried to bring more tears to your face before realising he would comfort you and you couldn't deal with that. You were mentally warring with yourself and couldn't think of a response but your mouth had a mouth of its own and decided to take control.

"Yeah, I was but its fine now. I was just-" You stopped, not being able to carry on as you realised what would happen if you told him. You let the tears come but they were forced and wouldn't drop properly.

"(Y/N)? What happened?" He asked, coming over to your bed to comfort you. You swallowed, not being able to act it properly in front of him.

"I just, heard a voicemail from my family. It hurt, that's all." You say, dismissing it when Bruce put his arms around you, pulling you into a side hug. Your words wouldn't come then and you just faltered. You were never like this before, what was happening? Was it just the fact that you felt like you had to be extremely careful around him? You didn't know and you just didn't want to do the wrong thing.

"That's a lie. It's something else." Bruce stated softly. "But its fine. I won't press you." He added, his words comforting but also alarming. How did he know? And why didn't he ask?

"How?" You managed to croak through the lump in your throat.

"I know you. I've seen you cry before, you don't cry like this. I don't know. It's just a feeling." He trailed off, leaving you to sit there leaning your head on his shoulder as the tears came down slowly and wayward. You made no move to wipe them away as you tried to breathe. It felt so hesitant just to do anything when you were leaning on Bruce now, you used to be able to cry openly on his shoulder and now everything felt awkward. You didn't mean to, you just couldn't help it.

"Thanks Bruce." You spoke truthfully when you couldn't take it anymore. You had to move but you were still going to be polite.

"It's ok." Bruce replied and you half expected him to use the "It's what friends do." Line but he stops there. You smile, the thought running through your mind as you mentally chastise yourself and correct the smile.

"I should probably clean myself up." You excuse yourself, moving away from the embrace, trying to get up. As awkward as it was, you did like the hug.

"Yeah." Bruce murmured, taking the hint to get up. You put an arm around yourself, trying to warm up as the absence of Bruce's arm left you cold. You walked to the bathroom and washed your face again, trying to calm down. Everything felt too weird. You walked straight past Bruce and downstairs where Laura was sat, resting. Cooper and Lila were sat as well, all watching T.V. with popcorn and nobody noticed when you came in. You sat down and watched with them, occasionally taking from the popcorn bowl, and sitting on the floor instead of the sofa. It was full and you didn't want to impose. You laid your head sideways as you watched, shifting your head from time to time as you fit your pillow better. The film finished and you got up, stretching your limbs when Laura went to the kitchen to put the bowl away.

"Auntie (Y/N)?" Lila asked.

"Hmm?" You responded, too drained to say anything else.

"Is Dad going to go again?" She asked, catching you off guard. "Because of the robot? Then he won't come back for a long time again." She more stated than asked and it broke your heart to hear such a small child talk like that about her own father. And she didn't resent him for it.

"Yeah, he is going to have to go again, but I promise, I'll bring him back and we'll all come back for another holiday yeah?" You compromise, not wanting to hear anything else about Clint like that. She didn't mean it like that, but it was obvious it was hard for her to have little to no contact with her father. "Do you trust me Lila?" You ask, hearing the lull in conversation, knowing she was having a hard time digesting the news.

"Yeah, of course I do Auntie." She replied quickly. Too quickly, you knew it was obvious she was just saying it for you but you had no other words to console her. It was horrible but you knew that sometimes there was nothing you could say to a person to make them feel better. They had to work it out on their own and as much as it hurt you, it hurt them worse. You kept silent as you went back up to your room, the solitary of your bed much needed. You saw Bruce on his bed, still working on that piece of paper as you sat down on your bed.

"(Y/N)?" Bruce asked, earning a hum of acknowledgement as you turned to him. "How long did you know about Clint's family?" He asked, his words cutting a hole in you as you closed your mouth, trying to speak. It was a question you knew would come around but you didn't want it to.

"A long time. About the entire time I've known Clint. We were drunk and talking but I knew that he had a secret and more vodka did the job." You explained vaguely as you remembered being welcomed to the place with a party. Tony was too busy chatting up his guests and Natasha took a bit of time to warm up to you. Steve was being kind as always but he'd gone to the other side of the room.

You'd already met Bruce and had a good working relationship when you'd met. Clint was the only one you hadn't met and you weren't quite sure you wanted to meet the Asgardian from what horror stories Tony had scared you with. Steve had been reassuring about him and promised to be there when you met him which was another story entirely.

You'd gotten on easily with Clint the moment you'd met him, the easy going personality and joking demeanour was just fun. You'd promptly gotten in a drinking competition and had lost but it had gained you that piece of information. Not right away, you had to talk a lot and he knew practically everything about you before you found out about Laura. You and Natasha had become their Auntie's and both of you often talked about Lila and Cooper, it was pretty much the only thing you had in common.

She wasn't really into science and you didn't know a thing about fighting so they were your link to her friendship. You'd understood Clint's reasons and fiercely protected the secret, distracting everybody at exactly the right reasons when it came up. You and Natasha and Clint looked out for each other and made excuses at the exact right time, fake break ups, clothes advice, help with an experiment, teaching a new fighting move. It was a little time in your life that let you think of home and be a proper auntie even if it was to the wrong child.

"And you never told me." Bruce spoke thoughtfully, more to himself than you but you had to try to swallow the guilt.

"I couldn't. You know I couldn't, I'm sorry. It was just, so wonderful to be a proper auntie! I could spoil them with presents and take them out, let them hold my hand when we cross the road and push them on the swing. Everything I should've done with Harry, my actual nephew." You hang your head with guilt as you remembered Liv telling you all about him and how he's turning 5, the same age as Cooper and you felt the same guilt that had been eating at you for the past years taking a huger bite.

"(Y/N), it's not your fault. You couldn't get to Harry, you couldn't do all those things with him. What were you supposed to do?" Bruce reasoned, putting the paper to the side in case he had to get up.

"I just feel like I could've. I should've done more while I could you know? Now I'm stuck here, I'm going to miss Liv's pregnancy, I've already missed out on so much Harry's life and so had Clint with Cooper and Lila and I, I just know that if I take the Avengers job, I'm going to neglect her even more and I can't deal with that. I so want to meet him in real life and not just on Facetime where he's just too freaked out by the lady on the screen to say much. I," You say, about to carry on but your voice cracked with the weight of the situation. Bruce got up at your words and the cut off.

"(Y/N), you've already been an incredible auntie to Cooper and Lila. They obviously love you, and you love them right?" He asked getting only a hesitant head nod, as you wondered where this was going. "That doesn't mean you don't love Harry, you just haven't seen him as much. I promise, when this is over, I'll take over your work so you can go see them in England. It's not too late, just do something now instead of pushing it to the side!" Bruce spoke, trying to get you to see reason and making promises that you knew he would keep but didn't want him to no matter how much easier it would make life. You would just take that holiday Fury offered and add more to it and use that to get everything back on track.

"What do you know about leaving things too late?" You whisper, defeat letting you try one more thing before it took you over. You felt everything crumble and your knees buckle as you held on to the wall to try and steady yourself. You kept a hand over your stomach as it flipped over and over, the movement making you have to take deep breaths.

"More than you'd think." Bruce replied, before putting an arm around you, comforting you as he led you to your bed and sat you down. He sat beside you and hugged you like he did before but this was more freely, he was holding you like you used to before without the boundaries and fear of overstepping them. He was reminding you of an easier time like before when you woke up happily, the excitement of going to work overtaking you every day. You would go to the main kitchen and have breakfast with everybody, fighting over the Coco Pops and making jokes before heading down with Bruce to the lab where you'd do science experiments and end to endless papercuts and watch as Bruce performed some annual assessment of the simple experiments.

You were brought out of your daze and comfort by Bruce telling you to wait before he ran off and came back seconds later with a tablet and water to sip it down with. Tears slipped down your face as you sniffed, brushing them away as your headache increased, the pain smashing at your head with a stone as you tried to keep upright. You gratefully drank the water and tablet and leant into Bruce again as he sat down again, the warmth increased and the tears seemed to take away from your mouth as you swallowed nothing. Your mouth was too dry but you were too comforted in Bruce's presence to get up for a glass of water. You chewed the inside of your cheek to try and regain some moisture when you tasted a metallic taste like blood normally would. You immediately left it alone, hoping you hadn't caused it to bleed. The minutes ticked on and you closed your eyes, the sweet lull of dreams enticing you and you knew this wasn't right. "Bruce?" You called, trying to alert him to something wrong.

"Shh, just rest." He whispered, trying to hold back the guilt that over-flooded him.

"You did this. Zopiclone, 3.5…" You were about to finish when your eye closed again and your throat became too dry.

"That's you (Y/N), too clever for me to ever outwit you." He smiled, moving to lay you on the bed, comfortably. It hadn't taken full control yet and you could still hear him and managed to murmur a few last words before you fell prey to the darkness.

"Too clever for you Bruce." You whispered, the words loud and clear for Bruce as he let out a small laugh at your words. Your head lolled to the side and he knew you were gone. When you woke up you were gone from him. He knew what he'd done and he knew it was the right thing despite what you'd told him but he also knew you would never want to talk to him again. You were not very appreciative of being drugged to sleep so he could run away but he had had his last moments with you.

He hadn't fulfilled his wish and knew he probably never would now. He had bad luck and knew that you were better off without him. By the time that particular dose had worn off, he'd be long gone and all would be well. You might be pissed but he knew you would be safe and hopefully feel more confident and able to visit Harry and Liv if you remembered your last conversation with him and hopefully took his words and acted on them.

"I wish the best for you (Y/N), I really do. And I hope you knew I was just acting." He told her, the words falling on deaf ears as you were lost to the darkness. He walked out, leaving you there asleep as you had no idea of time or could feel it passing. Laura visited you as she watched out of the window of the room you and Bruce had shared, the empty fields as she sat there with hot chocolate in her hands. Cooper and Lila had said goodbye as so had she, her husband was officially gone to fight a robot. She smiled at the thought, thinking of how she would tell this to little Nathaniel.

She fell asleep in the chair resting along with you, both of you waiting for people to come home from war. You were still sleeping in the morning as Laura woke, going to get everything ready for the day. Cooper had to go to school and Lila was going to playgroup. The noise didn't wake you as you were sleeping peacefully. Laura let Cooper and Lila run into your room and say goodbye for the day to your sleeping form as compensation for the fact that everything had changed for the worse with everyone gone. Laura treated it like a game and they had to creep in quietly and say what they wanted to you and then creep out quietly.

Lila walked in first leant on the bed and spoke quietly to you. "Hey Auntie, Mum says you're too tired from Uncle leaving you so we can't wake you but you'll still hear me so I just want to say thank you. Dad said he would come back and I know he will. I know that you will get him back if he can't and change Fury's mind. You and Uncle will work together and I know you will. So thank you Auntie. Have a good day! Oh, and I hope your wrist gets better soon." She whisper-shouted as she leant on the bed, her hair tied up and her backpack filled with the toys she'd need. She walked up to Laura and they walked out to give Cooper some privacy.

"Hey Auntie, it was so good having you here. I had the best holiday with you. But I'm so scared, I have to go to school and Dad isn't here, he's going to fight that robot and I have to work at school. What if something happens to him? I don't want him to go. I get so scared. Lila doesn't really understand what Dad does and I don't think baby Nathaniel will either. I can't tell Mum because she already has a lot to deal with, that's what Miss Jameson said and I don't want to give Mum any more stress. You are the only one who won't mind but don't tell Mum I said that."

"I like talking to you, you don't judge me and you always know what to say. It's nice but now you will probably go after Uncle. What if you get hurt as well? What would I do then?" He asked, pouring out every emotion he had to a prone body and sighing when he got no reply. "Well, I won't wake you, I'm sorry if I did but I was just thinking a lot." He apologised, the words piercing your heart as you listened, trying to control your breathing so you would still look like you were sleeping. "Bye Auntie, have a nice day." He sighed, walking out and you waited until you heard the front door close to get up.

"Cooper, it's not your fault." You murmur after the echo of his moving body in the now silent house. You get up and have a shower, changing your clothes and doing your hair in a bun. It was time for business and you had a lot to do. Stupid Bruce, you thought with a vengeance. You took advantage of the empty house and wrote a letter to Cooper and Lila. Separate of course, you had heard completely different things from both of them. Needless to say, Cooper's was a lot longer than Lila's.

You did it in your neatest and easiest handwriting for them to read and used simpler words or just wrote the meaning in brackets. You packed everything up in your suitcases and got some chocolate from the cupboards to drop off with the letters. You hid them in your suitcase and hid that in your room and walked downstairs to have breakfast in time for Laura to walk back into the house, dropping her keys on the table before walking in to find you with some toast. "Hey Laura." You greet happily, making up a façade of not knowing where anyone was to see her response.

"Hey (Y/N), you okay? You finally woke up?" She asked, faking a smile.

"Yeah, where is everyone by the way?" You ask looking around to see if anyone was there.

"(Y/N), they're gone." Laura approached slowly. "They had to go." She reaffirmed.

"What about me?" You ask. "Am I supposed to take the car? Did they leave an address?" You ask, moving to get up, seeing how badly this hurt her.

"(Y/N), they didn't leave an address because they don't want you to come." Laura confirmed, making you close your eyes in frustration. "They took the car as well." She spoke, making you curse.

"They're trying to protect me right?" You guess, still with your eyes closed but you could feel Laura nodding her head as you took a breath, trying to clear your head. "Idiots." You murmur, sinking back into your seat.

"The fight is going to be horrible, they wanted you safe here." Laura tried to comfort as she moved to put an arm around you. You grit your teeth, trying to keep breathing short and sharp instead of letting the anger subside.

"What am I supposed to do here?" You ask, gesturing to the place. "I can't help. No, this doesn't sit well with me, I'm going to call someone and try and get some details on what's happening, I have some contacts-" You begin but Laura's sigh cuts you off.

"(Y/N), they left you here for a reason." She tried to appeal but you just shook your head sadly.

"I can't. I just can't. If you could, would you stay here if you could help them?" You ask, knowing her answer.

"Of course I would help Clint but what are you going to do?" Laura conceded.

"Whatever I can." You say, turning away to get to the phone. You slide it out of your pocket and flicked through your contacts until you saw what you needed.

"Go save Bruce!" Laura called out behind you. You rolled your eyes and waved your hand behind you.

"He's a prick!" You called back, the words doing little for the anger that began to bubble up again. You were so going to slap him when you saw him. You were a woman of your word. You walked up to your room and sat on your suitcase, the lower platform letting you dig your feet into the ground. You hummed to yourself as the dial tone rang on, muttering for him to pick up.

"I thought you'd be quicker." The voice you knew spoke. The same sarcastic, annoying tone was there and at that moment you wouldn't have changed it for the world.


	11. Book 1: Chapter 11

Bruce Confession Short Story P11:

"He's a prick!" You called back, the words doing little for the anger that began to bubble up again. You were so going to slap him when you saw him. You were a woman of your word. You walked up to your room and sat on your suitcase, the lower platform letting you dig your feet into the ground. You hummed to yourself as the dial tone rang on, muttering for him to pick up.

"I thought you'd be quicker." The voice you knew spoke. The same sarcastic, annoying tone was there and at that moment you wouldn't have changed it for the world.

"Hello Fury." You smiled as you spoke the words. "Have a plan?" You ask nonchalantly as if this happened every day. In fairness, it had been happening a lot recently.

"Of course, but my contacts are being a bit stubborn." Fury confided his frustration in you as you smiled, glad to be of use.

"I'll make my way down there immediately. But where is 'there' exactly?" You ask, not having any details to go on.

"I'll text them, Ultron could've easily hacked GDHQ to listen in. Well if he is he can go in a melting pot." Fury muttered, his anger taking over as you smiled, whole-heartedly agreeing with the words.

"Ok, I'll see you there." You settle, about to get off the phone when Fury's voice interrupts you.

"Oh (Y/N)? Good job with the Avengers." He sincerely spoke, making you swallow as you tried to speak, your voice thick with emotion.

"Thanks." You say, the words laced with all emotion you had been bottling up. The click told you that he had gone and you paced the room, waiting for him to text you. It took less than a minute but it felt like eternity. In the wait, you phoned for a taxi, knowing the car was gone and you didn't want to drive either. It was a win-win situation and you couldn't wait to gloat to Tony about it, knowing you had just ruined his fun.

You saw it and immediately went to say good bye to Laura. She was sitting and resting with a cup of hot chocolate. It was a hot day but you both felt the emptiness of loved ones. Only something like hot chocolate could help that. "Laura?" You asked, bringing her attention to you, standing there with your suitcases and hair pinned up in the business bun she knew so well. She seemed to age years as she got up to smile and walk over.

"You're going as well?" She asked sadly, getting a nod in response. "I'm glad. You can bring them back. I am supportive of his Avenging but, it doesn't make it any easier. Now you're going as well. What am I going to do all alone in this big house?" She asked, taking your hands in hers. She looked at you as you swallowed, trying not to cry.

"I don't know. But you won't have to wait long, I'll bring them back before you know it." You say supportively. But then a thought pops into your head. "Actually, you are going to do what you've always done Laura Barton. You are going to look after your children, bringing them up to be wonderful human beings and looking after little Nathaniel in your stomach there." You say, leaning down to whisper to Nathaniel. She smiles at your movement, the words giving her some strength for the days ahead.

"Well, when you put it like that…" She smiled as you got back up laughing along with her. You leant in for a hug and smiled when it was gladly reciprocated. "Aren't you going to say goodbye to Cooper and Lila? They'll be heartbroken if you leave without a goodbye." Laura protested, wanting some company for a little longer.

"Don't worry, they'll get a special visit." You say, winking as you move back, picking up your suitcases again.

"When's my special visit?" Laura asked, her emotion getting the best of her.

"Soon, I promise. Soon." You spoke, looking into her eyes intently. You loved Laura like a sister and it broke your heart to think of how she had to stay and look after these children alone.

"It better be." She conditioned. After a pause she pressed on. "Goodbye (Y/N), come back soon and bring my husband with you." She ordered, making you smile and nod, trying to hold back the tears. "And get yourself a husband as well." She smiled, winking as you rolled your eyes. She would never let go of that would she?

"Never! I'm going to stay single forever!" You say, stressing certain words as you played about with them. It was Laura's turn to roll her eyes as she waved goodbye. You didn't have the hands to so you simply kept looking back as you made your way out to the taxi waiting for you. You packed the suitcases first and then got in, waving to her and the house all the way. "Excuse me? Could you take me to the village school first?" She asked, the driver taking a turn at her words. She relaxed in the back seat, fingering the suitcase you'd packed the letters in.

He pulled up and you signalled for him to wait as you ran inside to the receptionist who seemed very startled at your entrance. "Excuse me? Could I see Cooper Barton? He's my nephew." You explained as she started to call up the class, terrified of you. "Don't tell him it's me." You added to the lady who looked like she needed to take a moment to breathe.

Cooper came moments later, running down the stairs as he looked around worried before latching his eyes onto you and starting to smile. "Auntie!" He shouted, running towards you and giving you a huge hug. You picked him up and twirled him around as he hugged you. "What are you doing here?" He asked, looking at you as he pulled away.

"Cooper, I have to go now." You broke the news and swallowed as his smile dropped. "I have to go help the Avengers, but I've got something here for you. Don't open it until I'm gone and don't eat it all at once." You hint, giving him the bag as you didn't want to waste Laura's wrapping paper.

"Thank you Auntie! When am I going to see you again?" He asked, his manners simply built into him as a natural response to a gesture like yours. But then he asked the real questions.

"I don't have an exact date, but I know for sure I am coming back with your Dad, straight after we defeat the robot yeah?" You say, trying to get his hopes up and it worked. He visibly perked up and nodded eagerly. "I am going to see Lila now. Do you know where her playgroup is?" You ask, just realising how unprepared you were. It was a lovely thought but you hadn't gotten any details about where to go to give the presents.

"It's just next door. They have a playgroup that is only a half day and that mean I get to see Mum when she picks up Lila." Cooper informed as he walked out looking to the teacher for confirmation which readily came as she had heard the conversation. He led you through the empty carpark and you followed, not knowing what to expect. He walked into the playgroup room and knocked on the door alerting the leader to their arrival. The minute they saw Cooper all the leaders lit up.

"Ah Cooper! How are you?" They asked, making their way over to him and then noticing you.

"I'm fine Miss Andrew, how are you?" Cooper asked, firing the question back.

"Oh I'm fine dear. Who have you got with you?" She asked obviously suspicious of you and it probably didn't help that you had a mysterious package in a bag with you. You mentally face palmed and wished you had more common sense so you could've thought of situations like these.

"This is my Auntie (Y/N), she's come to visit Lila because she has to go now." Cooper explained, gesturing to you as you simply waved and then shook yourself mentally before holding out a hand for her to shake.

"Hello, I'm Miss Andrew." She introduced herself as you tried not to say the sarcastic comment that was brewing in your mind.

"I'm (Y/N) (L/N). Pleasure to meet you." You spoke politely as you shook hands. She smiled at your polite manner and you didn't want to give her the chance to ask questions so you carried on. "Um, is it possible that I could speak to Lila? It's just that I have to leave and I didn't want to go without saying goodbye. Emergency you know?" You told her, hoping she's leave it at that. She didn't.

"Oh dear, what kind of emergency?" She asked, leaving you to try and think of a suitable answer.

"Um, just my husband. He got himself into a little accident at work." You spoke, your mind instantly straying to Bruce instead of a faceless person. You tried to shake the images out of your head but seeing Miss Andrew's worried expression, you knew you'd have to elaborate. "He's just broken his leg, but he needs my help now so I have to cut my visit short. Nothing too bad, he'll be fine but I can't just leave him alone." You ask rhetorically, hoping Cooper wouldn't blow your story but he'd gotten distracted and gone to play with some other children who also seemed to recognise him.

"Of course you can't dear. It's at times like these that you remember what marriage is for." She spoke, offering words of wisdom as you walked along. "I remember my own wedding day, it was a very large hall. I had to walk down the entire aisle without tripping and I cannot tell you how nervous I was. But then I saw my dear Jim's face and I knew it would be fine. I just focused on him and smiled." She recounted, making you mentally curse. Although it was a sweet story, you weren't actually married nor had any desire to at that particular moment.

She carried on like that and you just zoned out, muttering the occasional "Yeah" and "Hmm." You found the room where Lila was playing and no introduction was needed as she recognised you and ran up to you, giving you a huge hug like Cooper did. You twirled her as well and all eyes were on you as Lila shrieked with joy. "Hey Lila! How are you?" You asked, setting her down as she regained her breath.

"I'm fine Auntie, why are you here?" She asked, looking up at you with those big brown eyes that resembled Clint so much.

"I'm just here to give you a present, and tell you something." You added as she gasped at the thought of a present. You led her outside, still holding the bag and knelt down beside her. "Lils, I have to go now." You say, using her nickname. "I have to go help the Avengers fight that robot I told you about. But I promise I'll be back and with your Dad as well." You saying, rushing as you don't want her to start to cry or moan because you had not much time left. It was already a stretch doing this in the first place, if you stayed any longer you wouldn't be able to get there on time and Fury would leave without you.

"You promise you'll come back?" Lila asked uncertainly.

"I promise." You say, stressing the words as you smiled at her. She seemed to be comforted by that and you carried on. "But I also want to give you this present." You say, passing her the bag. "But," You interrupt as she starts to eagerly open it. "You have to open it when I'm gone ok? You can do it now or with Cooper at home. Your choice." You say, getting up from knee level. Lila looks solemnly up at you and nods.

"Of course Auntie." She confirms as you smile and wave goodbye, walking away. You take Cooper back and wave goodbye to him as well as you get into the car and the driver drives off. You sigh, a huge weight off your chest as you relax in the back seat. The drive is mostly spent in silence and as he stops at a petrol station, you take the chance to stretch your legs and get some chocolate for yourself. You buy with your own money and check to see if you have enough to pay for the drive. It would definitely be stretching it but you know that Fury can cover the cost and you can pay him back. Plus it was technically the Avenger's fault for taking the car.

You fall asleep in the back after having finished your food and sleep peacefully, knowing you told the driver where to go and you weren't the one who had to stay awake. The hours passed and you woke up to see the driver listening to music on low volume to keep him awake and not wake you. You appreciated the sentiment but it wasn't needed. You were tired and still a little drugged, you could've slept through a song. The fact that you still felt weary only fuelled your anger and you could've easily powered New York with your emotions only. "Um, excuse me? How long is it until we get there?" You ask politely to the driver who seems startled at your consciousness.

"Not too long now Miss, an hour or so at most." He spoke cheerily as he regained his composure. You smiled gratefully before settling for looking out of the window. You didn't have much else to do and you weren't going to go for a walk in a car. You sat there, simply watching as the street lamps flashed past, the repeated pattern hypnotising you into a daze where you sat with your thoughts. What was the plan? When you got there, what were you even going to do?

First was obviously helping to persuade Fury's stubborn contacts by using her knowledge and if it came to it, crocodile tears. Second was getting all the information on the Ultron situation. Would you enter the fight? Yes. Even if it was mainly just to annoy Bruce who tried to stop you from doing exactly that then yes. Also, you liked the idea of being able to slap each and every one of them for their conduct. How dare they even think about drugging you and then leaving you behind _again_? Every time you thought about it, you felt the anger rise up inside you and you had to force it back down.

The hour flew by as you thought about your feelings for Bruce and decided they were irrelevant and not to be pondered on. They weren't worth it and if you ever got back to something of a friendship with Bruce it would be wondrous. You pushed them out of the way, knowing for sure, you liked him but it wasn't important now or ever.

You thought about how you would fight and smiled at a few fantastical thoughts you had of frying pans like Rapunzel or swords like Esmerelda but knew that you would have to use a gun. It didn't bother you so much as you knew you could always punch them, let out your anger on robots and save the world at the same time. It was a win-win situation. You thought of all the times you'd spent with Bruce and if the thought ever crossed your mind that he would be capable of drugging you. You forgot that, knowing the naïve you would never have thought something like that. You then went to the thoughts of Liv and Jason and Harry and the baby on the way.

Would you visit them like Bruce had said? Would you listen? Your anger flared at the words and your stubbornness wouldn't let you think such things. You weren't listening to Bruce, you were fulfilling your greatest wish. You were doing this for you and nobody else. You chanted the words in your mind, over and over again until they were stuck in your mind but you knew deep down you didn't actually believe it no matter how much you chanted it. You also knew that you didn't know what you thought on the whole thing.

It all became mixed and whatever you thought you had sorted out and knew for sure was blurred again as the lines changed and you got lost in thought. You didn't get the chance to ponder again as the driver kindly notified you that you'd be pulling up shortly like on a flight and you had the chance to make sure you had everything as you undid your seatbelt early. The driver made a funny comment about it that lifted your spirits. It was so nice to know that others could still be happy even when the world might be ending. You didn't know for sure what was happening but you knew it was something along those lines.

"(Y/N), you took your time." Fury remarked as you stepped out of the car.

"Why is it that whenever I talk to you it is always because I am late or someone else is?" You ask, the pattern linking in your mind.

"Because we don't have time. Ultron is going to try and destroy the world and I personally don't want that to happen. Do you?" Fury spoke, raising an eyebrow at your attempt at light-heartedness. You sobered up as he showed you to your quarters and you had a quick shower and tied your hair up in a messy bun to ease the pressure on your scalp.

You walked out and made your way to where Fury's contact would be. You saw a young woman and she instantly perked up at seeing you, her smart business suit showing a lot and her trainers contradicting everything one might think about her. You made sure to document this in your mind as you smiled kindly at her. Walking to her wasn't necessary as she met you halfway and shook your other hand as the brace was still on.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." She smiled at you as you wondered what Fury had told her about you.

"Likewise. Now, I hear that Fury has something he needs to procure from you but is having some difficulties. Is it you or someone else?" You asked, getting right to the point.

"I am in possession of the object he needs." She confirmed and you shook your head.

"That's not what I meant." You say, sitting opposite her on the table. "Is it yours to lend or not? Or is there someone behind the scenes because I can help with any of those. I am very flexible." You tell her, startling her with your insightful observations.

"How did you know?" She asked, only curiosity lining her features.

"Easily. I noticed a few things but mostly I knew the situation. Stubborn is just another word for more than one person. Whether that means more than one aspect of a personality or another person, it means exactly that in this business." You explained, smiling as she nodded with respect.

"Well you are right as I am sure you already know." She smiled, inclining her head towards you. "It is my partner. Technically we both own it and he's proving to be hard to persuade. He doesn't understand how much I owe Fury and I don't know how to work around this." She confided and you nodded thoughtfully as you digested the information.

"What is his name?" You ask only needing that information to rectify the situation.

"Chen, that's his business name but his real name is John." She confided, smiling at your raised eyebrow. Pretending to be Asian, that was new for you but probably not for the world you thought with an amused smile. The world would never cease to amaze and disappoint and confuse you.

"Right, well. Leave it to me. May I take your number, for any details I might need at a later date?" You explain briefly before taking her phone and inputting her number into your phone and sending her a text to establish the link. Once you were sure it was there, you passed it back, smiling as she caressed the case gently with her fingers. You stood up, shook her hand and retreated to your room to do some research. Your computer was brought along and you caressed the case gently like she had moments ago. Chen, the word was typed rapidly into the search engine and you pressed enter triumphantly before finding out all about this Chen guy.

A normal businessman, polished in every way but then you got to the important bits. He was the lady from earlier (Evonne Bradley)'s business partner. Nothing more than that, just business partners and you could use this. You texted Fury and arranged a meeting with him tomorrow as you texted Evonne all night, readying your case and planning what to say. The morning came and you woke with the beep of your phone, the alarm on, thankfully you had remembered in the car to turn it on, and you woke up, half of you falling off the bed and the other spread over whatever you could as you lifted your head, trying to reach your phone to turn it off.

You had to get out of the bed to turn it off and you groaned trying to pull yourself up as you half crawled and limped towards the phone on the desk. You turned it off and began to shiver in the cold as you walked to the bathroom and rubbed your bare arms as goose bumps began to appear on them. Water splashed on your face and eyes open and not crusty, you smiled at yourself in the mirror, trying to make it convincing as you woke up. The business suit was folded neatly on your bed as you brushed your hair into a ponytail before changing and finishing it up into a high bun, topped professionally on top of your head as you tucked the stray hairs away behind your ears.

Your high heeled shoes were a bit uncomfortable but you knew that pain was gain in this case and as Liv would say, "They aren't even that high!" The words made you smile as you remembered them in Liv's voice. You checked your phone for the time and saw that it was an hour until the meeting and you smiled, getting everything together in a pile on your desk, ready to collect when the time came but for now, you were happy to eat breakfast in the cafeteria. You walked down and saw no one you knew so you spent breakfast on your phone, trying not to think of Avengers Tower and what you would normally be doing at this time and how much better it was compared to this.

You had a simple breakfast bar but realised your hunger was worse as you started to snack on many different things, your pattern too messed up to eat properly. You took a few bars for later and walked back to your room, still snacking as you walked. You chucked the wrapper in the bin and brushed yourself down before picking up the small stack of paper on your desk and made your way to the meeting room where you waited. He was one minute late and you made sure to document it in your mind. "Hello Mr Chen." You say politely as you hold out a hand to shake as he walks into the room.

"Hello, Miss…" He trails off, obviously asking for a name which you mentally raise an eyebrow at but keep a calm façade on the outside. One would've thought he would research on the person trying to persuade him to give up the thing he didn't want to do.

"(L/N)." You tell him filling in the blank.

"Ah yes, I remember now." He said, making you bristle but he didn't seem to notice. You hated it when people did that, acting so badly but you couldn't say a thing about it. "So, what is the aim of this meeting?" He asked, looking around for someone to tell him and it all clicked. He didn't know why he was there and you mentally cursed Fury for making your job a lot harder.

"The aim of this meeting is for me to try and persuade you to donate an object vital to saving the world." You summarise, happy with how that sounded. He frowned for a moment before he remembered and just sighed.

"This again? I've already told Miss Bradley, not for any other use." He finished, obviously thinking that his word was law and you would give up.

"Not even saving the world?" You asked, counteracting his argument. He sighed at that and you continued. "You may not like it Mr Chen, no one is asking you to but we simply need to use your object to help us." You say, the man seeming to look slightly more interested at your phrasing.

"Do you know what it is they want me to donate?" He asked, curiously.

"No, it hasn't been specified to me." You answer truthfully, still holding your head up high.

"Hmm, they want me to donate an entire new type of Helicarrier I have been working on." He tells you as you watch him with interest.

"And why is that such a problem?" You ask, visibly raising your eyebrows now as you walk around each other doing circles of the room, seeing who wins the power play.

"Because it's mine? I don't need it publicised as the Avenger's nor do I need it publicised in the first place." He spoke like a true businessman.

"I don't think that anyone will be focusing on the machine used to save the day mainly that the day has been saved. Like it or not Mr Chen, we live in a world of superheroes and supervillains and we need to work together to stop them. And by 'we', I mean the world. I don't know what his plan is but I know it isn't good. The Helicarrier could save millions and even if it does get credited, which the chance of it being so is quite slim anyway, there are resources we can use to change that if it is an issue." You say, offering a solution as you kept circling.

"Is that supposed to be a motivational speech? It's very good I must say but you cannot guarantee anything you are saying, can you?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at you as you tried not to break the calm mask.

"Of course I can't. Nobody ever can, can they?" You say, playing up to his argument. "But I am saying I will do this to the best of my abilities and the best is quite good. My achievements and manipulation skills are refined and they can be used in any situation. I'm sure you can relate can't you Mr Chen?" You ask, showing yourself off, knowing he would see through that to your actual intentions and would pride himself on that.

"Yes I can, but you aren't the type to show off are you? This is all a fake, a mask, a façade to get me to sign the dotted line." He mocked, showing his intelligence stretched further than Helicarriers.

"I'm not the type to show off no, but this isn't all to get you to 'sign the dotted line' as you so eloquently put it." You say, mocking him back. "It's to save the world." You confirmed, determination in your eyes as you held your head up and looked him in the eye.

"Hmm, fine. Pass the contract." He said, startling you as you didn't think it would be so easy. You fumbled with the stack of papers on your hip and flicked through them and passed the contract to him. He scanned through it and brought a pen out from his pocket and signed, writing every detail they needed on the back of it and passing it back to her. "You're wondering why I signed it." He stated as you didn't nod or shake your head but confirmed with your eyes.

"Because I believe you. You want to save the world and I haven't met someone like that in a long time but you actually seem capable of something like that." He complimented, the words not sounding like it from his mouth but it was obviously meant like that. "Here's my business card if you ever need a job." He pulled a card from his breast pocket and you took it politely and saw the neat, professional look before pocketing it yourself.

"Thank you." You say, not really knowing what else to say.

"It's no bother. But, know this Miss (L/N), I'm not an idiot and…" He spoke, walking closer while you froze. "I know there is something else you need it for. Or should I say, someone?" He asked, right next to you as he spoke in a whisper, to keep everyone from hearing. You swallowed, trying to think of a response but nothing came to mind. "Am I right?" He asks and only one word comes to mind.

"Yes." You breathe, not being able to raise your voice even if you wanted to. He nodded and walked off, leaving you to calm yourself alone in the room with everyone and thing vacated. You took a few breaths, placing a hand over your heart to try and calm its fast rhythm. Your other hand, reached into your pocket to occupy itself and found something small and with sharp edges. You blink repeatedly and retain a calm manner, or façade in this case, and walk out to find Fury, your hand still playing with the business card and holding the contract in the other.

It didn't take long, he was waiting outside your room and you wordlessly handed him the contract, keeping the business card. He nodded and walked away, leaving you to enter your room and pack what you had unpacked in the short time of occupying the room. You can't stop thinking about what Mr Chen said and how he knew. Obviously you were more than a little creeped out but it was unnerving how easily he saw the truth.

You picked up your suitcases, still in your business suit with your hair tied up but with more comfortable shoes on. A pair of trainers, easy to run and walk in and most importantly, comfortable. Although they may have stuck out with the suit, it was safe to say, there was a very low percentage someone would be focusing on your shoes. You smiled at the thought of the report and made your way to the Helicarrier parked outside. You'd received the text whilst walking and found the timing impeccable. A car was parked next to it, taking all of the luggage with it and you gratefully threw your clothes in and kept the suitcase with other important stuff, wheeling it onto the deck.

The Helicarrier truly was a remarkable achievement and you understood Mr Chen's reluctance to give it up. You parked the suitcase to the side and found Fury at the wheel, commanding the beast with Maria Hill at his side. You walked up towards them and was given a nod of acknowledgement from Agent Hill while the Director paid you little to no attention whatsoever. You cleared you throat loudly and earned a glance in your direction but he quickly focused back on the window and directing a course.

"So, you did it." Fury stated with appreciation, shown in true Fury style. "Well done." He spoke gruffly, without much emotion shown as you rolled your eyes and moved on.

"Thank you. What are the new details?" You ask, wanting to know everything the Avengers had failed to tell you, you thought bitterly.

"The Maximoff kids are on our side, they switched." Fury told you as you stood there proudly, not much surprise accompanying it. "That Ultron git has a million of him scattered all over Sokovia and he wants to make a vibranium version of himself so-" Fury begins but you know the rest.

"Yeah, I know that bit. I was there remember?" You ask, trying not to let your voice shake as you remembered the event. Fury didn't say anything but moved on.

"That's it then. You're up to speed. Currently, Ultron is making his way to Sokovia for something and the Avengers are probably already there, doing whatever the hell they want because apparently they're too busy to notify us when something happens." Fury ended, muttering his annoyance as you once more whole-heartedly agreed but said nothing. You sat down in a chair and sighed, before getting up again. You were restless, nothing would work to calm you down. Your hands consequently needed something to do but typing wouldn't work because you didn't know what you would type.

Eventually, Fury noticed, only by the nudge of Maria but he noticed. "(Y/N), why don't you train or something?" He offered, knowing sleep, food, water, a shower, the basics wouldn't work when someone was restless. Most of the time, they needed to let out energy and although, you had never done it before, he knew some of that energy would be invaluable if used against the right people. When she took the Avengers job, she could be trained by Steve and he had no doubt Steve would be able to train you well but there was no harm in starting a little early, was there?

"Sure, um where is the training room?" You ask, picking up your suitcase and making your way to the exit before you turned and thought of the question.

"Down the hall on the right. The estimated time to get to Sokovia is about 3 or 4 hours so you have time but don't tire yourself out. Practise with guns or punching but be careful." Maria warned, knowing how little practise you'd had with anything that wasn't defence weapons and how much you loved to learn new things so you'd probably be practicing for a long time.

"Of course not. Got to save some strength for those stupid ass robots am I right Fury?" You ask, joking with him as you disappeared round the corner but not before you heard his reply.

"She's right about that." Fury muttered as you smiled, making your way to the training room and finding everything you needed right there. You saw the guns laid out first, then the punching bag and naturally gravitated to the guns, holding them and weighing them in your hand, seeing how heavy they were.

"Hmm," You hummed, finding they weren't as heavy as you thought and were moulded to fit a hand comfortably. You held it up in a threatening manner towards the shooting target and found the trigger, curling your fingers around it and pressing down. You felt the backlash almost immediately and stumbled a few steps before regaining your balance and looking up to see it had hit the target even if it was a bit off from the centre you thought it was quite good for a first time and silently commended yourself.

You tried again, this time more focused and ready for the backlash. It did make you take a step back again although not as many as before. You saw the shot had gone very close to the centre but not quite. You kept practicing, using as many different guns as you could, trying to hit the bullseye at least once with all of them.

By the time you'd gotten to the last one, you'd gotten used to the backlash although each gun's was different. You trained the entire 2 hours, switching from gun to punching bag and vice versa, the excitement of managing to get a punch just right or hitting the bullseyes spurring you on. You'd changed into a legging and vest combo, both of them making it easier for you to move around. The trainers were kept and you weren't going to take them off unless it was a foot kick but you didn't focus on those. You were mainly thinking about attack. You thought you could defend well as a human being as well as being trained for a few lessons when you were younger.

The memories came flooding back as you kicked and punched, shot bullet after bullet and trained as much as you could to get it just right until you hit 3 hour mark. You'd set an alarm on your phone and put the volume to the highest setting it could go to so you could hear it when it rang. When it did, you sighed and started to pack away, that using strength in itself as you changed back into the suit after showering. You didn't have any other clothes and you weren't staying in slightly more dirty clothes than before.

You made sure to get a holster for as many guns as you could fit and repulsion blaster gloves as you had. Working with Tony had its pros and you made sure to always protection with you even if it was just your own fists. It was what you packed in your suitcase to be safe and you wished you had it with you a lot more times. The attempted robbery, the robot attack, the creep at the party all came to your mind as examples.

You walked to a room you right there and then adopted as your own, setting your suitcase in there before finding the room was almost completely bare. It had a bed, a wardrobe and a tiny bedside table. No desk or chair, you found much to your annoyance. Call you posh and snotty but you'd had a desk since 5 years old and it had helped you immensely. You liked it and didn't want to have a room without one but you gave in and reasoned that you weren't going to be using the room much and you would survive without one.

You sat down on the bed, not sure what else to do. If Maria was right, you had about half an hour until you got there, leaving 15 minutes for you to occupy your time with. Leaving would be crazy and you would be swarmed by robots trying to kill you. Lucky, you had training with guns then, you smirked to yourself knowing there would be an endless supply somewhere on the ship. You didn't know what you were going to do when you docked, leave and fight or help the wounded or protect the Doctors helping the wounded.

You thought about it, sitting there and slowly regaining your energy as you snacked some more and before you knew it, Maria was on intercoms calling everyone to the main deck which you readily ran to. You heard voices and their words made you smile. "Where else am I going to get a view like this?" Natasha asked, obviously talking about her death. The one that wasn't happening, you thought.

You got there in time to hear Fury start to talk to them. "Glad you like the view Romanoff. It's about to get better." He said, before the Helicarrier began to pull up to the rock hanging in the air. You stiffened at that, there were definitely details missed there. "Nice right? Pulled her out of the mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty but she'll do." He spoke, turning to you as you ran in, breathless and as you heard what he said you walked up.

"More like one friend. Guess who it is?" You ask, narrowing your eyes as you gave them death glares they could feel over the comms.

"(Y/N)?" Steve questioned, hearing your voice and you smiled, not answering as Maria began to give Fury the stats.

"Altitude is 18 thousand and climbing." She spoke, tapping at the computer.

Another spoke, "Lifeboats ready to deploy. Disengage in 3…2… Take them out." He finished, the words ended with a triumphant tap at the keyboard.

"This is SHIELD?" Quicksilver asked, impressed and reviewing everything he thought he knew about the organisation. You smiled at his words.

"This is what SHIELD is supposed to be." Steve answered, leaving you with many thoughts to collect but you just forgot them for the moment, preoccupied with helping as the lifeboats were deployed.

"This is not so bad." Pietro decided in his accent, making you wonder whether he might become an Avenger. Maybe you and the Maximoffs could join together. The lifeboats got to the rock and Steve, always the leader, got into action.

"Let's load them up." He ordered, before running off himself to find people. Robots came for the main Helicarrier, which was currently the place you were. You fiddled with your holster to get a gun or some form of defence before a robot burst through the glass, making everyone gasp or scream. It got up from its crash and launched itself at you, almost knocking you to the ground with its force. You held it up and began to punch and kick and do whatever you could to get out from under it so Maria could shoot it down. She had her gun pointed at it but it was obvious she couldn't do anything until you were out of the firing line.

You kneed it where it would usually hurt the most for a guy but all it did was make him go backwards a bit. You kept doing it, pushing, kicking and shoving. Everything and anything you could think of to make him go backwards. He was off you and on the floor as Maria started to shoot at it with everything she had. It didn't seem to make a difference as it locked its eyes on your and looked ready to launch again before Fury used a piece of metal to knock its head off. You ducked as it smashed into the wall and swallowed, holding out a hand for Fury to get up smiling gratefully at his timing.


	12. Book 1: Chapter 12

Bruce Confession Short Story P12:

You kneed it where it would usually hurt the most for a guy but all it did was make him go backwards a bit. You kept doing it, pushing, kicking and shoving. Everything and anything you could think of to make him go backwards. He was off you and on the floor as Maria started to shoot at it with everything she had. It didn't seem to make a difference as it locked its eyes on your and looked ready to launch again before Fury used a piece of metal to knock its head off. You ducked as it smashed into the wall and swallowed, holding out a hand for Fury to get up smiling gratefully at his timing.

You ran back out onto the deck and hitched a ride on a lifeboat to the rock in the air, meeting Pietro as you got there. You jumped off and he caught you, seeing you were going to land badly. You landed in his arms and smiled gratefully as he let you down. "I recognise you." He spoke, holding a finger up as you brushed yourself down, still holding onto his shoulder. "You were with Dr Cho. When we left. You saw us." He spoke in short sentences, piecing everything together as he looked at you while you stared back, hesitant. You had no grudge against them personally but you knew that people had many different sides to themselves and there was no telling which one could be coming out at any one time.

"You recognise me then." You say, trying to think of what to say. "I did see you leave." You say, swallowing as you remembered everything happening way too fast.

"Is Dr Cho alright? Wanda set her free but…" He trailed off, not wanting to say his thoughts.

"She's fine. Ultron shot her but it didn't hit properly. I managed to bandage her with my shirt and we got to hospital." You told him, trying not to make him feel so guilty.

"I'm sorry. We were tricked, Ultron-" Pietro tried to defend but you stopped him with a finger.

"Pietro, its fine. We got to hospital. She's fine. I'm fine. It's not your fault at all." You say, trying to calm him. "I don't blame you or Wanda at all and neither would Helen." You reassure. He didn't say anything, just looked down, obviously not believing you. "Pietro, I saw you and Wanda. You're a good brother to your sister and you're a good man. The fact you care is enough to cement that fact for me." You smile at him, your words lifting his face as he looked at you with disbelief on his face. You gave him a hug without warning and almost knocked him over with the force of it. He caught you again and wrapped a strong arm around you, keeping you upright.

"Thank you." He murmured, his conscience somewhat clear from his past life mistakes.

"You're welcome." You say back, before pulling away as a robot launched themselves at the two. Pietro quickly put an arm around you and ran, the sensation overwhelming you. You felt like you were on a rollercoaster and couldn't stop. You grabbed onto his shoulder and arm, flying around behind him as you held it so tightly, you felt like it was going to bruise later but couldn't find it in you to ease your grip at all. Although you felt his arm holding you so you knew you weren't going to fall, the sensation wouldn't be welcome at any other time. Your stomach felt like it was going to flip and you had to focus on breathing. After what felt like years it stopped, leaving you dizzy and disorientated. Pietro kept an arm around you, steadying you as you kept your legs from turning to jelly. Your grip loosened but only slightly as you looked at him before holding your stomach and bending over. "Oh my god, I don't feel so well." You say, trying to keep breathing.

"Sorry we had to get out of there. It is hard the first time." He sympathised, holding your arm upright while the rest of you kept breathing bent over. He placed a hand on your back, rubbing soothing circles while you did some heavy breathing.

"It's fine. I was just unprepared." You say in-between breaths as you start to straighten up again. You feel a bit better but you do not want to do that again. "Just try and warn me next time yeah?" You ask, happy to be on steady ground again.

"I'll try." He laughed as he looked around, scoping out the place for any robots. You looked as well and saw nothing except rubble and belongings scattered everywhere. You both immediately sobered up as you saw the destruction.

"Oh my God." You breathed, looking around. "What happened?" You asked no one in particular as you bent down to pick up a doll left on the floor. Just the sight was enough to bring tears to your eyes as you sniffed, trying to keep your cool.

"Ultron." Pietro replied with one word, the mention making him grow with dislike and you sniff reproachfully before you got up. You pulled a gun out from your holster and brought it with you as you scoped out the buildings in a more populated place. Pietro gave you a lift but with warning and more grip for you. You shot them and when that didn't work, you used the butt of the gun to knock them away from you. You didn't fancy punching them with their metal faceplates but you were fine to use steel on metal.

You were left alone as Pietro sped off to find some more people and protect them long enough to get them to the lifeboats and away from the fight. You did the same but with only your guns and gloves to help you. You scoped out a block of flats to find a large group of people hiding out together. Your heart immediately went out to them and you managed to signal to them with hand gestures to follow you and you gained their trust as you defeated a robot that happened to burst in on you at that moment. They followed you, the children and elders at the front while the adults that were able to fight were given a gun and shown how to shoot it and swing it hard enough to create some damage to metal. You were leading them, trying to find your way through the rubble and broken buildings.

You managed to find a lifeboat that was connected to the edge and jumped across first, helping to pass the children and carry some of the elders before the adults made their own leaps. You stayed long enough to check everyone was ok and saw a family reunited. The sight propelled you to go and find more people but it was getting tougher, you saw more robots than people and felt exhausted reaching a mother and daughter in a house. Your hair had fallen out and you a glove permanently fitted onto your hand as you shot every piece of metal that moved. You had a few rips and cuts seeping from your legs and one bleeding from your head as you recalled the brutal fight you'd had with a robot, ending with it being destroyed by itself. It had taken the same approach as you though, picking up a piece of itself before smashing it into the side of your head. You'd almost passed out but managed to stay conscious long enough to defeat it before laying there for a few moments, trying to collect your thoughts.

The family followed your battle worn body as you led them to another lifeboat. The other had departed, taking the people to another place, probably a hospital before returning but that wouldn't be for half an hour at least. They boarded and immediately were greeted by a man who embraced the mother with a kiss and picking the daughter up, checking them both over frantically for any injuries. You smiled at his cute protectiveness and were happy you could reunite them. The lady turned back and smiled at you, waving while she explained to the man why they were. You assumed he was the father and he waved as well, extremely grateful for their reunion. You smiled and waved back, watching as the lifeboat departed. You had no comms to hear what was going on with the Avengers but you hoped they would find a way to get back on the ground without wiping out the entire planet. You knew the consequences of a single move gone wrong and you would help but you were already preoccupied.

You hadn't spent any time with any of the Avengers after they'd abandoned you at Avengers Tower apart from Bruce and Clint, one of which you were still pissed at and you couldn't find the other. You hadn't found Wanda either and hoped with everything you had that she was safe. She didn't deserve any of this and neither did Pietro, but he seemed better at controlling and using his powers while Wanda was uncertain and scared. You'd talked to Laura about it using the sense of 'hypothetically' and she'd agreed that the battlefield was shouldn't be any place for anyone like Wanda.

You scoured out more crumbling buildings and tried to be careful with the plaster threatening to give in to the cracks in its foundations but so far you had nothing to worry about. So far. You entered a particularly unsecure flat to find any survivors. "Hello?" You called out to find no response. It was all too silent when you realised it was time to go. You turned around but only to be launched at from the back by half a robot. You weren't entirely sure how it was still operational with half of its body gone but it was coping fine as you found out. A scream left you as you threw your arms behind you, trying to get it off as it grabbed your hair, trying to pull you away. Your screams didn't subside as you spun around, trying to throw it off as it hit the wall, making the wall crack as it travelled to the ceiling. You ran for it at the same time as the robot did making the place crumble quicker.

It crashed in on you as you reached the door, your scream cut short. Your leg got caught in the rubble and you toppled over, your arms catching your head as you put it to the floor but your ribs weren't so lucky, crashing on a piece of rubble. You heard a roar and ignored it, trying to focus on not panicking and trying to get out of your current predicament. You looked behind you and saw the robot thoroughly crushed, the sight making you sigh with relief. You winced in pain as you tried to move your leg. "Help!" You called out, hoping someone would come to your aid. You were just about ready to pass out everything catching up with you as you rested. "Anyone? Please?" You asked, a whisper barely coming out as you were giving up hope. You breathed heavily, trying to think of a way out of this as you cursed your brain for coming up blank.

Then you heard the same roar and put a hand to your head, trying to sooth the heat with your cold hand. "Hello?" You asked, recognising the roar of the Hulk. You wanted to get out of there before he came, hoping he wouldn't hurt you. You weren't scared of him but you knew Bruce didn't always have control over him or that the Hulk wouldn't harbour bad feelings towards you and accidentally cause more injury. If you were honest, you accepted the Hulk completely but it was easier to say that instead of meeting him face to face. You also knew that if you were honest you knew that it was terrifying to be up against the Hulk knowing Bruce or not. It was this realisation that hurt you the most and made the guilt monster eat at you.

You were still pondering over these thoughts when the Hulk himself ripped half of the house away so he could see you better. You twisted on your front to try and see him but immediately regretted it when it caused you to cry out and curl in on yourself. You held your side and closed your eyes when you heard Hulk's somewhat softer whine. You looked back up, now on your side and saw his sad soft features and breathed out, finding yourself mesmerised at how calm and kind he was despite his violent, angry nature. You weren't sure what made him like this but you just knew you were glad it did. "Bruce?" You breathed as he let out an indignant noise, prompting laughter from you before you ceased it immediately, every movement crushing your ribs.

He let out a concerned noise as you breathed looking back up. "Hulk?" You ask and he nods happily. "Can I have a hand?" You ask as he reaches in and removes the rubble trapping your leg like a stone and chucks it to the side as you let a few tears stream down your face. At least under the rubble, it had some pressure applied to it but now it was free, the pain overtook you. "Oh God, oh God, oh God." You repeat like a mantra, curling in even more on yourself as you tried to ease the pain. The Hulk reached in again and held out his huge hands as you took it and tried to get up. All you had to do was to get up a bit and he caught you, carrying you sideways in his hands as you rested against him.

"I'm still mad at you for leaving me." You murmur against him and he lets out a small chuckle as he moves slowly and gently, trying not to use his arms for any robots they encountered. He took you to a lifeboat and gently laid you down on the ground of the lifeboat before running off. You pass out soon after he left, waking up to find pressure on your leg. You try and lift your head only to give up a few moments later, the pain becoming too much. A nurse comes rushing in to help you and you try to breathe and calm yourself.

"Hello, now I expect you're quite disorientated. Don't worry, you are completely safe. The Hulk brought you here when you suffered multiple injuries like cracking your ribs and breaking your leg. We are in a hospital a few miles away from the fight." You feel your heart jump at this. What was going on there? "You have a brace on your leg that would explain the pressure. We have an ice pack for your cracked ribs. We also bandaged a slight wound on your head that looked much worse than it actually was but I can tell you it was hard to keep upright when I saw it." He tells you as you laugh a little. His accent didn't go unnoticed and it sounds comforting. He was nice and funny and his personality quickly laid you to rest.

"What's going on at the fight? How is Bruce?" You ask feeling a bit agitated as you try to move, the earlier peace from his joke gone. He hand you the ice pack which you take gratefully and place over your ribs, sighing at the heat escaping.

"I don't know. We have been incredibly rushed here, getting patients every few minutes." He explains and you sigh, trying to think of what could've happened and not let your mind stray to anything like death. "You know the Hulk then?" He asks, sitting down in the chair next to the bed.

"Yeah, I know Bruce Banner." You say, pointing out the difference. "I haven't had much experience with the Hulk but he saved me so I guess we are technically friends." You joke with him.

"Yeah, I saw you online. Your profile was on the web. "Y/N) (L/N) right?" He asks and you inhale sharply, trying to keep calm as the realisation of just how many people have seen your profile hits you.

"You saw that?" You ask, cringing. "Yeah, hi. I'm (Y/N) (L/N)." You introduce although he clearly already knows from the smile that lights up his face as you confirm your identity.

"Everybody saw that! It's everywhere! Everyone is so excited to see the person who works so closely with Dr Banner." He tells you and your heart drops. What did that mean?

"What?" You ask, trying to keep calm. "What do you mean?" You ask.

"Well, everyone knows that Dr Banner works as a scientist so naturally everyone thought he would find love in a fellow scientist. There are many fanfictions about it." He tells you and your eyes widen. "So naturally, when we found out that he did have someone on his team that he might work with closer than the others, the world went crazy and people are already shipping you guys. People are using your name in so many articles about you two speculating whether a relationship is there or feelings. Not many are actually considering the fact that you could just be friends and I think there is something there as well." He tells you and you get up in shock, propping yourself up against the pillows with his help as he sees you are now wide awake and with a lot to process.

"What?! People think me and Bruce are together?" You ask and although you already know the answer, you need the confirmation that comes when he nods slightly, a smirk on his face. "But we're not! I mean, we're not, we don't, not like that!" You say, trying to form proper sentences. He just raises an eyebrow in amusement as you try to defend yourself. "I promise!" You say.

"So, just feelings then." He smiles as you realise that he has outwitted you. Your mouth hangs open and you just sit there, trying to think of something to say. He smiles at you and you glare back.

"I don't know how to express this to you without further confirming your false beliefs." You say, stressing the word 'false'.

"Maybe because you can't think of any words to contradict the fact you like each other?" He asked, not letting go of his firm belief that wasn't completely false.

"You know what? I give up." You say, trying not to let the smile on your face grow to anything otherwise he might just have more proof.

"Good, because I'm not." He smiled at you, knowing you were forming a fast friendship despite the unlikely start. You rolled your eyes and decided to try and move on.

"So, how am I? When can I go?" You ask, wanting to go see how the fight was going and re-join it. As if he could almost see your thoughts, the nurse interjected.

"No, you cannot leave in time for the fight and even if you could, you'd collapse with the first robot." He pursed his lips, unimpressed with your eagerness to fight. The motherly words along with the accent was enough to make you laugh but you supressed it in time, knowing he would be even less impressed if that was possible at this moment in time.

"So, when can I go?" You ask, trying again. He sighs, obviously defeated as it was a perfectly normal question for a patient to ask but he also knew the intentions behind it. He was backed into a corner and didn't like it. The mere fact made your lips twitch with amusement.

"Your leg is bandaged and in a brace. We had to do your wrist up again and your head might ache, the ribs will need a lot of rest but apart from that, no reason you can't go at the end of the week with a lot of bed rest and prescription medicine." He sighed, knowing you wouldn't take any rest or leave but take the medicine and think that would solve all the problems. He'd met too many patients who thought like that and it was completely based on the fact they thought medicine was magic. They didn't know that their body was trying to heal as well and if they push it too much, they'd end up back where they evidently didn't want to be.

"The end of the week? Seriously?" You sigh, leaning your head against the pillows, trying to enjoy their comfort as you'd be seeing a lot of them for the following week.

"Yeah, seriously." The nurse replied sarcastically. "You're lucky it wasn't longer with the injuries you'd already suffered and pushing them further." He rolled his eyes, mainly talking to himself.

"Hmm." You hummed in agreement, knowing you'd pushed it but you had hardly felt your wrist in the heat of battle. It had been too hard fighting for you to be bothered by a dull ache in your wrist.

"Glad you agree." He spoke, obviously knowing you were barely there, lost in your thoughts.

"Yeah," You replied, absent-mindedly. "By the way, what is your name?" You asked, realising how lost you'd been the entire time on how to address him.

"Glad you finally asked. My name's James. James Virtuous." He introduced himself, leaving you to smile as you took in the variety of his name.

"Nice to meet you James." You say, holding out a hand for him to shake which he did. "Are you on your break or something?" You ask, seeing how long it had been yet he had not been rushed away.

"Crap, no!" He shouted, also seeing how long it had been and getting up, running out without more than a second glance. You laughed, watching him run away.

"Bye James!" You shouted after him and got no response, only pattering feet. You relaxed into your pillows before remembering what had happened hours before. You reached for your phone on the bedside table before realising it wasn't yours but James'. You carried on regardless, using the internet to check what had been happening. You needed to find some information on the battle, there had to be some out there. You clicked on a clip, leading to the news channel and it showed a reporter in Sokovia, standing in front of the rock in the background. She began to talk and you turned the volume low so no one would hear.

"Today has been a rollercoaster from start to finish. For a few days the world has been aware of a robot called Ultron and his leaking of SHIELD profiles on the internet etc. However, it seemed like the Avengers and Ultron were just gearing up for war that is taking place behind me as we speak. This was a place called Sokovia, however somehow Ultron has managed to lift a huge part of it into the sky, leaving the rest of the world helpless to see what will happen. Not much is known, except that the Hulk and the rest of the Avengers are up there fighting for the world. There is an airship up there, sending vital support to the rock, evacuating civilians to the nearest hospitals. The fight has been going on for a few hours and it seems relentless. We can only hope that they can bring Sokovia back to Earth safely." She ended the report, the clip coming to a close as you sighed, not having gained any more information.

You scrolled down the webpage, looking for any other clips that might be interesting until you stumbled across one such clip, detailing the world's thoughts on you and Bruce's relationship. You coughed violently when you saw this, trying not to choke. You clicked on it and braced yourself. "So, a lot has been circulating on the web about the mysterious (Y/N) and the much more well-known Dr Bruce Banner also known as the Hulk. It is a fact that when you become as famous as the Avengers you can't go without a few fanfics, however they have a lot." You shook your head at this.

"A lot are also about Dr Bruce Banner, detailing ideas of a close work colleague and feelings developing between them. These have of course, all been ideas until those SHIELD profiles were leaked and the world saw that this OC close work colleague might not be fiction after all. This understandably sent the world crazy as they all speculated on the nature of their relationship." You smiled at this, knowing that the both of you didn't even know yourselves.

"Now, the mysterious Miss (L/N) doesn't have any family listed and even still, nobody would think to disturb them at such a horrible time but that doesn't stop them from speculating. Needless to say, not many people think that they are just friends, whether that be officially dating or in secret or just feelings they haven't even told each other, the world has explored every different scenario. They are many 'shippers' of the (Y/N) and Bruce ship and they are all hoping for some official statement after this fight, assuming that they both make it. We all know the Hulk is invincible but (Y/N) is very much human with no genetic alterations at all, leaving her susceptible to Ultron." She spoke, leaving you with your head in your hands, trying not to faint with the horrible reality of the situation. Ultron was threatening to take over the world and make the Avengers extinct and people were speculating about the nature of you and Bruce's relationship?

"Oh my crap." You say, not being able to choose between which curses to say. You put the phone back, carefully removing any trace of you having been on it at all. After that, you had nothing else to do but sit there, bored and mulling over what you had learnt. You went into a daze, lost in your thoughts and barely noticed when the light faded from the room. You lay back down, leaving the food untouched on the table. You didn't feel hungry. You woke to James, opening the curtains and you frowned, not remembering them ever shut. The light made you wince as you put up a weak hand, trying to shield yourself from the light. "Ugh." You moaned, trying to make him close it again with the simple power of noise.

"That's not going to work little miss. I've got to open them at some point." He scolded lightly, leaning down to peel back the covers, leaving you cold and groaning. "Are you always this bright and sunshiny in the morning?" He asked sarcastically as you frowned at him, annoyed and plastering a bored expression on your face.

"No, normally I bound around, taking the dogs for a walk." You replied snarkily.

"I'm sure." James drawled back just as snarky. "However, that doesn't matter right now. I expect you'll want to turn the T.V. on. No wait, there isn't one!" He replied mockingly, leaving you roll your eyes.

"What's so interesting on the T.V.?" You ask, bored and tired as you pick the crust from your eyes.

"Get dressed, eat some food and shower and tell me what you think of Bruce I might tell you." He replied smiling at his ultimatum. You frowned at the last part, making him roll his eyes and dramatically scratch it out as he left. But you quickly came to your senses and realised there was something about the outside world on it and it had to be important. Like the battle. You jumped out of bed before flopping onto the floor with your cast weighing you down. You groaned at the floor and pushed yourself up to grab the crutches on the side of the bed to hobble to the shower in the room. You stopped and called James with the control panel, realising you had no clothes to wear. You practiced hobbling around on your crutches without brushing your ribs while you waited and he came back into the room with a groan. "What is it?" He asked simply and you smiled.

"Who's the bright and sunshiny one now?" You asked, earning a smile as he realised what had happened. You moved on, not wanting to linger on it too long. "Um, I need some clothes. I have no clothes to wear." You told him as he smirked at your awkwardness.

"Right, and where do I find girl clothes?" He asked, folding his arms, obviously asking for something to sweeten the deal. You sighed, rolling your eyes.

"Fine, I will tell you the truth about what I think of Bruce." You say, earning a huge smile as he practically ran out of the room and rushed back in a few minutes later with clothes. You didn't look, just took them into the shower, impatient to hear the news. You had to be careful because of your leg but you were glad to get rid of your messy, blood stained hair, leaving it out and air drying. You brushed your teeth in the shower, doing two things at once. You got out of the shower, cleaning it as best as you could after putting on the clothes James had provided for you. They were a cute crop top with jeans and a tall, flowing cardigan that hugged your curves when you stopped long enough for it to. It was soft and stayed with you no matter how much you wobbled. You weren't too comfortable with the crop top but you had nothing else and could cover up with apart from the cardigan.

Your jeans had to be cut when they didn't fit over the cast. It was obvious it wouldn't but you were stubborn and wanted to try. It resulted in James and scissors cutting one leg to shorts while you kept the other. It would've looked ridiculous had the cast not been obvious but you still thought it looked ridiculous. You didn't really care though, wanting comfort more than fashion. You were only in the hospital, it didn't matter who saw you. You hobbled out and brushed your hair, keeping it out although it did create some wet patches on your shoulders, you had nothing to dry it with, you reasoned. You sat down on your bed and called James with the control panel again and made sure to put the bed together again.

The covers were all messed up and the duvet was half on the floor while the pillow was lumpy from the way you'd been holding it and resting your head. You got to work as you waited for James to come and tell you what happened that was needing of an ultimatum. He came in and sat down next to you and brought his phone out. You were both perched on the bed and he brought up the news article. The clip was loaded and he pressed play while you listened intently. "The fight between the Avengers and Ultron was finished earlier today." You breathed out a sigh of relief at this.

"The rock in the air was brought back down safely and clean up services along with the Avengers have been hard at work to clean up the aftermath of the fight. Hundreds of lives were saved and many talked of the Avengers with high praises but a family we spoke to, some of the people to be saved in the early stages of the fight talked of another. A mystery person who saved them with her own skill." She reported and looked confused as James nudged you at this part, obviously indicating this was the interesting part and what he'd told you to watch about in the first place. The screen changed and a small family you recognised as the family you saved, stood there, and still covered in ash and rubble.

"So, you were saved by a mystery person, could you tell me more?" The reporter asked, putting the microphone in their faces. They began to speak but their voices were blocked out by the English voice that overlapped them.

"Yeah, she was so kind. She couldn't speak in our language so she gestured gently until we understood she was good and we had to follow her. She protected us, fighting many robots to get us to the lifeboat. She did it mostly with her own hands, using her gun to hit them instead of shooting. It worked and she got us to the boat, seeing us off before she went to save more people. I was reunited with my husband because of her and cannot express my gratitude enough." The male voice spoke despite the woman talking as she held her child close to her. The reporter nodded after realising she had stopped and moved the microphone back to her.

"And what do you think of the woman who saved you?" She asked, bringing the microphone down to the small child standing there, hugging her Mum. Your heart went out to the girl and you smiled supportively at the screen although this was edited and put together while you were back on the rock and fighting. She opened her mouth to speak and the voice overlapped her again.

"Oh, I think she's wonderful. She's so beautiful and kind even in a fight. I loved seeing her fight. I want to be as good as her when I grow up!" The man exclaimed at the same time the young girl jumped with excitement and your eyes welled up with the joy. You breathed out to calm yourself and James put an arm around you supportively. You leant into him happily and carried on watching.

"Aw, isn't that sweet?" The reporter spoke before turning to the father. "And what would you like to say to the woman who saved your wife and daughter?" She asked, confirming your suspicions and you took a shakier breath at the words.

"I just want to say thank you. You saved them and brought them back to me. They are safe and here with me now because of you. Thank you." He repeated, using the little English he knew. He had a very strong accent but you still understood him and smiled at him. It faltered a little and had gone smaller which James noted but didn't say anything. The screen changed back to the reporter in the present tense.

"So that was the interview but I couldn't resist finding out more about the mysterious woman." She smiled, making yours drop. "I did a little investigating and found out the mysterious woman was actually (Y/N) (L/N), the lead scientist everyone thought would be a good pairing with Dr Banner." She revealed, making your hands shake a bit. James took the phone worriedly as he rubbed soothing circles on your back just like Bruce did. The clip didn't stop playing as it droned on. You barely registered it but it did come in.

James knew you were in shock and got up, leaving the phone to carry on playing. He rushed to get something warm like hot chocolate and you were left alone, trying to breathe and control yourself. "It turns out that she joined her friends in battle and saved quite a few people. Those people will always be grateful to her and it turns out she has more endearing qualities than brains. She is beauty, brains and brawn, leaving us to all wonder when we will get an official statement about her relationship with Dr Banner." She ended, leaving you to turn it off and put it to the side as you raked your hands through your hair, trying to understand what had happened. The threat was over. You were safe and yet everything seemed the same. You didn't have Liv or your phone to contact your mother. You didn't have Bruce or the Avengers there and what annoyed you the most was that seemed the new normal as much as you hated the idea.

"What the hell?" You whispered to yourself, wondering how you'd even got to this place.

"(Y/N)?" A voice asked and you looked up, seeing the Avengers apart from Bruce and somehow that laid a blanket of damper over the exciting bubbling at the sight of them. Tony smiled shyly at you before making his way over with the others following suit. "You alright?" He asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah, not doing too bad set aside the fact I'm in hospital with cracked ribs, a broken leg and wrist brace." You joke, hoping it would lighten the mood. If anything, it made it darker. No one spoke and you frowned. "Tony? What's wrong?" You asked, looking at them.

"Pietro died." Natasha spoke in a whisper, her words echoing throughout the room. You swallowed, not sure you had heard her right, denial stopping the tears.

"What?" You whispered, hoping this was some kind of twisted joke and Pietro would come running in in a moment.

"Pietro died." Steve re-enforced as you sat in shock, the tears flowing without you noticing. Your face kept the same plastered smile on, as you looked around to see everyone with the same face and the small hope you had of this being a joke was extinguished. You put a hand to your stomach, trying to keep the bile down. You only had the energy to ask one word, everything else being sapped out of you.

"How?"

"He was saving me. Ultron was shooting everything and he protected me and a little boy." Clint told you in short and you swallowed nothing, the words not sinking in. It didn't compute with you that Pietro could be. He was so vibrant and full of life that he couldn't be. He couldn't be. Not dead. You swallowed nothing again, stuck in a loop. Tears formed in your eyes again and fell, staining the bedsheets. You felt them fall onto your hands, which were planted on the mattress, trying to find solid ground as you heaved breaths and tried to see through the tears. Tony watched sympathetically along with Steve as Natasha came around to comfort you with a hug. Clint did the same, his side hug along with Natasha's helping you to ground yourself and remember who you were. Nobody said a word, the air was thick with emotion and no one could breathe enough to say a word. This went on for a few minutes before Thor sat down in front of you on the bed. You were leaning into Natasha, resting your head on her shoulder as Clint supported you. Thor raised your chin gently and smiled.

"Lady (Y/N), I did not know the man very well, but his speed was only one endearing quality he possessed. He was fast, yes, but funny, clever and a good brother." Thor spoke, as you let more tears fall as you thought of what everyone had lost but the last sentence made you remember.

"Wanda." You breathed, shooting up, making everyone look.

"What?" Tony asked, confused at your sudden change of demeanour.

"Wanda." You repeated, looking around. "Is she alright, he was her brother! Oh my God, I have to get to her!" You shouted, suddenly getting into action as you tried to move your broken leg. You groaned at the cracked ribs and more tears fell but you still tried to push on before help came from all sides. Steve took one arm while Clint took the other, Natasha took the crutches, Tony brought the renewed ice pack and Thor vacated the bed for you to be sat on again. "Guys, help me I need to check on Wanda." You ordered, moving to be ready to get up again.

"(Y/N) no." Steve spoke, the words, stopping your efforts as you looked up in horror. "You're injured. You have to stay here." He ordered back and betrayal was written all over your features. You looked to Natasha who looked away, same as every person you looked at. Only Tony moved forward.

"(Y/N), as much as I never thought I would say this, Cap's right. If you leave no, you could get more injured and that is just more restrictions for a longer period of time." He spoke, putting things into perspective, silently pleading you to understand.

"But Wanda!" You spoke, having no other words to express your thoughts.

"I know, but she's in safe hands." Tony carried on as your furrowed your eyebrows.

"Where is she?" You asked, looking up after putting the ice pack on, resigning yourself to the fact that you had to stay there.

"Safe." Tony spoke. "Just like you." He added, seeing you look up sceptically. You left the conversation there and Tony moved the subject away. "Pietro's funeral is two weeks Tuesday. I made it so you can attend." Tony informed you and you breathed out, wiping away the tear trail marks.

"Thank you." You breathed and Tony nodded, before silence reigned over the room again.

10


	13. Book 1: Chapter 13

Bruce Confession Short Story P13:

"Thank you." You breathed and Tony nodded, before silence reigned over the room again.

"So, how are you and Bruce?" Natasha asked, once everyone else had left to get some coffee from the cafeteria. You breathed a laugh as you looked down before up again.

"Seriously?" You asked, not being able to contain your smile. She just smiled at you and you gave in, not having the will to fight anymore. "The Hulk saved me, if that means anything." You told her and her smile widened to showing teeth and yours copied.

"The Hulk saved you? He didn't smash?" She asked in disbelief, making you laugh again, the random elation that seemed to arrive whenever Bruce was mentioned coming back.

"Yeaah." You confirmed, dragging out the word.

"(Y/N), you know that means something right? The only other person he saved in Hulk form was Tony, and that was when he saw him fall out of the sky. Did he see you?" She asked, her eyes widening.

"No, he must've heard my scream." You tell her, not knowing how much you had analysed it until that moment.

"Your scream? Are you kidding me?" She asked, as excited as you'd ever seen her.

"Yeah." You confirmed again, feeling 13 again.

"That's got to mean something! He leaves you twice, to protect you!" She added, seeing your elation fade a little and then come back twice as strong. "And then he saves you just by hearing you scream and brings you to the Helicarrier, showing as much humanity in the Hulk as I've ever seen!" She almost screams, making you smile at her excitement. "(Y/N), he likes you!" She spoke, making your heart stop.

"No he doesn't." You denied, making her raise her eyebrows at you. "What? Of course he doesn't, we're just friends. Plus if he wanted something more, he would've accepted." You said, matter of factly before realising what you had said. Natasha adopted that familiar glint in her eyes meaning she was happy to have another secret piece of gossip under her belt.

"He would've accepted? Accepted what?" She asked innocently, making you internally berate yourself for letting slip such an important piece of information.

"Well," You started, somehow not being able to stop yourself from revealing all to the assassin super spy. "It was at Laura's house, I told Laura I liked a coffee guy so she would stop pestering me. It was obviously a joke and she figured out who I really liked but Bruce heard. But only the coffee guy bit. The next day, I was helping Laura and I told her how much I liked Bruce but I didn't say his name. Bruce heard and thought it was about the coffee guy. Laura made me go after him and after a confrontation he asked that we don't go any further. I don't think he likes me." You finalise, the elation deflating out of you like a balloon.

"Oh (Y/N)." Natasha spoke sympathetically. You leaned into her for another side hug and she gladly draped an arm around you. "Maybe he's just trying to keep his distance. You know Bruce, how long did it take him to become your friend?" She asked, trying to cheer you up like the sudden best friend she had become.

"Ages, but if he's really that scared well, I won't push him. It's his choice." You say, wanting to leave the situation like always. "Plus, I'm not sure how long I can wait as just friends, knowing we have feeling for each other or that I have feelings for him." You say, knowing that however long he waits, things might just become awkward. Natasha nodded, understanding but not happy about it.

"Yeah, you've got a point." She commented, not having anything else to say. You both just sat there, consoling each other until you spoke up.

"Hey, what about you and Steve huh?" You ask, trying to move away from the sombre cloud that had enveloped them. "You two seem close and I think there's something more." You hint with a wink, making Natasha laugh.

"Steve is just a friend. Plus, he's too innocent for me." She winked back, making you laugh in return.

"So, don't you have a crush on anyone?" You asked, looking up at her, interested.

"All of them. They are all so hot don't you see? But I don't like any of them like that. I don't know if I ever will." She mused thoughtfully, the sombre mood filling the air again.

"Hey don't be like that. You'll find someone." You console, shifting upwards so you could hug her back.

"Hmm, maybe." She spoke with a non-committal shrug. You smiled sympathetically at her.

"Who wouldn't want to go out with a super-hot superspy?" You ask, trying to rally her.

"Yeah and who wouldn't want to go out with a brains, beauty and brawn head scientist?" She countered, making you groan as she'd obviously seen the video you had.

"You saw that huh?" You ask, despite already knowing the answer.

"Yep." She grinned, making you groan again at all she was probably thinking. The two of you bantered back and forth until they came back and you felt infinitely closer to the superspy, happy to finally cement a friendship with her. The Avengers visited every afternoon, keeping you up to date but Bruce was never with them. You tried not to let that dampen your spirits, focusing on getting better and regaining proper movement in your legs and torso.

James became your friend and outlet on everything you thought. He was trustworthy and promised not to tell anyone what you thought about all of this. You found out all about him and vice versa as you told him more than you'd told anyone. By the time two weeks Tuesday came, your ribs had healed, having not hit them too badly. It was just your broken leg that hurt. Your head was cleaned up and the stitches were starting to dissolve on their own. You felt much better in your black dress that flowed from the waist so you could easily put your cast on.

You had flats on the other foot and hair flowing out in waves. Natasha had helped you get ready, coming in the morning to get a head-start. You let her do most of it, too shocked too do anything else. You were silent, contemplative and the ride there was mostly spent in silence. You hadn't seen anyone else but apparently, the Avengers were bringing Wanda. She had been having much more control over her powers but in a sadistic way, picking things up to break them. You felt responsible for what happened and wished you could turn back time.

You had contacted Liv hesitantly but that had easily melted away when you had heard her enthusiasm. You promised to fly out as soon as you could for the baby. It was due any week then and you couldn't miss it. You were due to fly out after the funeral on Tony's private jet and every bag had been packed. You nodded to the driver who opened the car door and got into the wheelchair, favouring it over the crutches. Natasha wheeled you to the grave where the sermon was starting and you saw Wanda sitting forward, not being able to stand. You waited patiently until the sermon had taken a break to wheel yourself over to Wanda who had not moved the entire time. You sat beside her and placed a hand on her back to alert her to your presence. She didn't flinch at all, still silent and unnervingly immobile.

"Wanda?" You asked, receiving no answer. "Wanda, I'm not going to waste time with talking about how sad it is. You know this happens, you've seen more than anyone can imagine. But I am sorry. I know how amazing he was. He saved my life and I want to repay that debt." You say, earning movement. She turned her head to look at you with a worried expression and you got the full extent of what had happened to her. She had huge bags under her eyes, she was bony and thin and so was her hair. You tried not to have too much of a reaction but internally, you were crying. "I'm going to look after you." You said, smiling at her as tears welled up in her eyes and she moved to give you a hug. You gladly reciprocated as best as you could, rubbing circles on her back and whispering gently. "It's alright Wanda, it's alright." In a soothing loop.

"You know, he told me he liked you. That you had a personality, and you were separate from SHIELD, that, maybe we could trust you." She recounted shakily, making tears pool in your eyes. "Thank you." She breathed and you both cried into each other, mourning the dead and refreshing yourselves for the living. Together. The sermon continued but this time with Wanda sitting proudly and holding your hand while you did the same. After the sermon you convinced Wanda to eat a little, small pieces of cucumber littering the paper plate as she nibbled. You held hands as Wanda stood proudly, watching as Pietro was laid to rest. You left her alone for a few moments with her brother, wheeling yourself over to the Avengers where they stood, smiling at the Wanda Maximoff, they had come to know.

"Well done." Natasha whispered in your ear as you let her wheel you the rest of the way. You didn't reply, simply smiled and took a breath. As you waited for Wanda, you were approached by Bruce, who was dressed in all black like everyone else.

"Hey (Y/N)." He spoke, jolting you out of your thoughts. You looked up and smiled at him, albeit a little awkwardly.

"Hey Bruce."

"Are you alright, I mean the wheelchair and everything?" He spoke awkwardly, faltering at every words gesturing to try and make up for his stuttering. You helpfully, decided to try and ignore his stuttering to be polite and replied.

"Yeah, as good as can be. The head and ribs are almost healed, I'm just waiting on the leg." You inform, gesturing as he did but with a little more eloquence.

"Good, good." He nodded, before falling back into silence.

"Thanks for helping me." You say, not wanting to fall back into silence.

"That's alright."

"How did you know I was there?" You ask, tilting your head as you asked.

"Um, I heard you." He replied awkwardly, holding his hand to the back of his head making his head tilt forwards. You nodded as if this was a new piece of information and fell back into silence.

"Um, I'm off to see Liv. She's got the baby on the way, like I said back at Laura's." You say, analysing his reaction of nodding almost mechanically, embarrassed and doesn't want to talk about it. He still thought you held a grudge against him for it and didn't want to push you for forgiveness, knowing he wouldn't get it when he committed the crime. He'd already resigned himself to that fact.

"Oh nice. How um, how long are you going to be off work?" He tried to ask casually, making you swallow as you remembered the last time you'd left.

"Probably a few weeks. It's been a long time, my mother is probably freaking out..." You say listing all the reasons why you were staying that long as he nods, trying to make it seem like he wasn't too bothered, making you internally cringe as you wished for some clarity over the situation.

"Cool." He spoke, obviously telling you it wasn't. Just the fact he said that word told you he wasn't 'cool' with it. "You know I never wanted to hurt you when I…" He trailed off and looked away but you knew what he meant.

"When you drugged me and left me at Laura's alone." You finished, plunging the conversation into deathly silence. "I know." You said, the words surprising Bruce as he looked at you and smiled. You knew that it was going to take some time, but you knew that eventually, you would mend the broken relationship. But you also knew that your feelings wouldn't just go away, they would still be there but you didn't honestly know if they would fade away like you'd heard they could. You fell back into silence but not for long as Wanda came up behind you.

"Hey. Where are you going?" She asked, sensing the tension.

"I was just waiting for you so I could say bye. I'm going to England to see my sister." You add at her confused expression. She is silent for a moment before speaking again.

"Can I come?" She asked and you were shocked into silence. You open and close your mouth like a codfish for a few minutes before answering.

"Sure." You say. "I don't see why not." You answer truthfully. It might do her some good to get away. She visibly brightens and wheels you away from Bruce, letting you finally take a breath.

"I saw the awkwardness." She says out of the blue, making you laugh.

"Thanks." You say, glad to be away. She smiles and you go with Natasha to the jet and sit inside, while Wanda collects a few belongings she wants to take with her. The trip is spontaneous and rushed but you think it is exactly what Wanda needs right now. It is honestly what you need right now, to get away and heal both mentally and physically before you come back fresh.

The ride was long and uneventful apart from you and Wanda talking about everything and figuring out your lives. You left the jet with her, feeling a lot more refreshed and observant about your life. Tony had a taxi set up for you and Wanda, transporting all of your stuff to the house where Liv lived. You were informed it would be 5 minutes until you arrived and you started to hyperventilate, the panic overwhelming you.

You took deep breaths with Wanda helping you through it, giving you reminders of Bruce which made you smile. They pulled up and you shakily hobbled out on your crutches and knocked on the door while the valet was getting the bags. Liv opened the door after some groaning and heaving, promising that she would get there, shouting to herself and to you. You laughed at her struggling persistence, and Wanda looked at you, slightly amused but clearly trying to hide it.

"It's funny right?" You asked Wanda who broke out a smile. She didn't reply but you saw her laughter.

"Ok, I'm almost there, yes!" Liv shouted, finally opening the door and leant on the handle, looking at the two of them. She was out of breath but seeing you, she suddenly found a whole new bundle of energy and almost screamed, throwing herself at you. "(Y/N)! Oh my God! What are you doing here? You barely even had time to respond as you were caught in a storm of questions.

"Hey Liv." You spoke, stopping her. "You going to let me in? I've got a few bags." You say, gesturing behind you as you hold her up in a side hug.

"Yeah of course, come in, come in." She spoke ushering you all in. The valet gratefully came in and set the bags down. You smiled and thanked him as he left, being paid for by Tony. Once all the commotion was over and you were all sat down, Liv began again.

"Are you alright? I saw what happened on T.V. and you didn't reply to anything until ages and even then, you didn't say you were coming here." Liv spoke, out of breath by the time she'd finished her tirade. You smirked at her, your big sister, and how worried she was.

"You know, I can't remember the last time you were worried like that." You smiled at her as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm always worried, you just never see it." She spoke in an unusually deep moment. The moment passed and she moved on. "Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't see you there. I'm Liv, her sister. Older." She added, talking to Wanda who had just been watching.

"I'm Wanda. I asked if I could come, I hope it's not a problem." She apologised, shaking the hand that had been offered.

"No, not at all. I've been so bored lately, and I've wanted my sister to visit for ages. At least she'll be here when the baby comes huh?" She asked, gesturing to her stomach.

"Yes, that will be wonderful. I can sense the beautiful, healthy girl in there." Wanda smiled at them and Liv let out a "Yes!" at the revelation.

"We didn't actually know," Liv told them as they both looked at her quizzically. Wanda seemed sorry for her mistake which Liv quickly tried to reassure. "It's alright, I wanted to know but Jason didn't. I bet it was a girl, he thinks it's a boy. I've wanted to know, thank you." She smiled at Wanda who seemed a little reassured by Liv's words.

"Liv, where is Jason?" You asked, looking around.

"Oh, he's at work. Yeah, I can't wait until he can finally be at home with me. It's so boring but at least I've got you two now." Liv smiled, happy to finally be back.

"Yeah," You agreed. "When is she due?" You asked, wanting to be there. You knew it wouldn't be long but you couldn't spend too much time here otherwise you would have to work for years to get some sort of holidays.

"About a week." Liv replied, making you squeal.

"Oh my God! That's awesome I can be here!" You smiled, laughing as Liv lit up as well. Once you'd settled down, you smiled. "So, where are we staying?" You ask, ready to unpack. Liv settles with an evil smirk on her face, ready for some payback.

"Wanda, you'll be staying in the spare room. It's an ok size, I hope you don't mind." Liv spoke before turning her attention to you, leaving you with an unnerving feeling. "(Y/N), you'll be sleeping on the floor." She finished abruptly, leaving you with your mouth open. Wanda began to protest but Liv quickly stopped her. "Oh no it's fine. I can't leave a guest on the floor can I?" She asked, leaving Wanda with no answer.

"Thanks sis. Great payback." You deadpan and she smirks wider. "So, this floor or in your room just so you can watch my discomfort?" You ask, knowing your big sister too well.

"Hmm," She pretended to think, exaggerating every effect for theatre. "I'll be kind, you can share with Wanda. The spare room is big enough." She smiled, asking as if she was bestowing a great gift upon your begging figure. In her mind, you probably were.

"Oh, thank you Your Highness. That's too kind, too kind." You acted, throwing your hands in the air and pretending to get on your knees before remembering your broken leg.

"I know." She spoke, her arrogance finding no limits. You both broke out of character and laughed, Wanda beginning to haul the luggage up the stairs with her powers to the spare room. You hobbled after her, hating the combination of stairs and crutches. Liv goes down the stairs to rest and you and Wanda begin to unpack.

"So, your sister is very nice." Wanda observed, moving onto the subject delicately.

"Yeah, sometimes. Mostly only around guests." You tell her, remembering your childhood and all the pranks played. This was the side you liked to remember. The other side included another person, one you never wanted to meet again. If he even cared enough to try, you thought bitterly.

"How long is this trip going to be?" Wanda asked, not having any plans but wanting to think of something to do with her life.

"I don't know. Until Liv has the baby I guess. Then I'm going to get to reconnect with all of my family in here. I don't know how long after that but you can go at any time you want." You say, not wanting to tie her down.

"Oh that's fine. I'm just figuring out my life. I don't know what I will be doing with my life now." Wanda confides in you, leaving you silent.

"Why don't you become an Avenger?" You ask, knowing how hard it must be for her.

"Maybe." She considers the thought, obviously still working through the stigma she had against them before. She didn't hate them now but going from hate to joining them so quickly, it must be hard. You didn't break the silence. It wasn't uncomfortable, it was nice but it wasn't the greatest. The time passed and the doorbell rung right after you both had flopped onto the makeshift beds you'd made.

You sprung up and crashed down the stairs to get the door before Wanda thundered down the stairs as well behind you. You crashed into the door, resembling Liv from your momentum. You opened the door and saw Jason standing there with the little boy you'd only seen on the screen. Your little nephew, Harry. Your breath caught in your throat, standing there with the door open.

"Um, (Y/N) right? I almost forgot, we haven't seen you in ages." Jason smiled, holding out a hand for you to shake. Wanda had come up beside you and flicked you from behind, propelling you into action.

"Yeah, sorry. That is me, I came to meet Liv without warning. I hope you don't mind." You spoke, taking the hand and shaking it, letting them into their own house. They walked in and Harry was silent. You took a breath and composed yourself, trying to calm down as Wanda took your hand. She calmed you with her powers without you knowing and you smiled a bit easier. You all walked in found Liv sitting there watching T.V. with a cup of hot chocolate in her hands.

"Hey!" She greeted, holding her arms open for Harry to run and jump into them which he did. You watched as the family reunited and stood by the sides, feeling awkward. She kissed Jason and they all sat together. You sat on the armrest and Wanda stood by your side. "Hey Jason, do you remember (Y/N)?" Liv asked, sensing your discomfort.

"Yeah of course I do. I even remembered her name. You know how bad I am with names as well." Jason spoke, happy and proud of himself. Liv smiled and ruffled his hair playfully, Harry on the other side, leaning into her.

"Well done Jas. I'm proud of you." She smiled, kissing the top of his head.

"Where have you been though, for the last," He thought for a moment. "5 years? Or 4?" He asked.

"Um, I've been in New York. America. I got a job as the head scientist for SHIELD." You told them, shrugging it off. Everyone knew about your job now. The entire world, how much could your family hurt? "I couldn't get any work off and then I got offered a promotion as soon as I got back from another… work trip." You lied, not having a legitimate excuse for not visiting earlier. "The work trips took out of my holiday times but I got that promotion." You say, your excuse sounding lame as you say it.

"Well done. I heard about that at work. You working for SHIELD." Jason congratulated and you smiled weakly.

"Yeah, I couldn't tell anyone I'm sorry. It was secret, SHIELD personnel. I had no idea what would happen." You say, feeling guilty about what happened.

"None of us blame you. I just can't believe you didn't tell me. I am your sister." Liv spoke, making you roll your eyes.

"Thanks. You'd rather have me in a SHIELD prison for telling you than meeting you freely." You say sarcastically back. Liv smiles and held out a hand for you to take. You did and she led you to her feet and you leaned against them, sitting on the floor and part of the family. Wanda smiled at you and you smiled back, holding out a hand for her as well. You all sat down, talking together and being a family. You all lost track of time and after eating, Harry fell asleep on the sofa with you and you got to take him upstairs while Wanda carried on talking to them.

You carefully cradled him, feeling like you never missed anything in the 5 years you'd been in New York. You set him down in his bed and pulled the covers over his sleeping form and kissed him gently on his head. You walked back down and saw Liv and Wanda talking and connecting together. You smiled at the two and walked into the kitchen instead where Jason was. "Hey Jason, what's up?" You asked, getting his attention.

"Oh hey (Y/N), nothing much. Just putting everything in the dishwasher." He put up his yellow gloved hands, shaking them and sprinkling water on you, making you put your hands up in surrender to try and protect yourself.

"Jason! What the hell?" You asked, as he laughed at your squealing.

"Hey, you know that there are loads of rumours circling about you online?" He asked once the dishwasher was filled and there was a lull in the conversation. You looked at him in surprise and closed your eyes, tilting your head as you thought through what to say.

"Yeah." You spoke through gritted teeth. "I've heard a few." You spoke vaguely obviously having heard them all.

"Is it true then? You and the Hulk?" He asked, interested.

"Uh," You let out the noise, not being able to say anything else.

"I mean, it's nothing it's just…" He trailed off.

"Liv asked you to." You finished, knowing your sister.

"Yeah…" He trailed off, not having any other answer.

"Um, me and Bruce is a difficult situation. We are work colleagues." You stated, not having any other answer.

"And anything else?" He asked, cleaning the work surfaces.

"I can't explain it. I think I like him, but I don't know if he likes me back or if anything like that is even possible." You say, shrugging it off when really, the realisation hit you hard. You were silent when Jason offered some pearls of wisdom that you didn't think would come from the seemingly normal man.

"Hey, sometimes you just need to reconnect. Talk to him, find out what he wants and respect it." He spoke, leaving you with your mouth open. "But you already know that don't you?" He asked and you realised you did, the entire time. You knew what you had to do, you were just scared to do it.

"Thanks." You smiled at him and he smiled back. You felt closer with your brother than ever before. Brother in-law but still, brother. The next few days were spent peacefully, you and Wanda now inserted into the family. You reconnected with Harry, becoming his friend more than his Aunt. It was a different relationship than the one with Cooper and Lila but you cherished it all the same. You hadn't talked to anyone back in America since you left but you had thought about them a lot. Namely, Bruce.

You wanted to mend the relationship but you had no idea where to start. Should you call him? Should you wait until he calls you? What would you say? It was all running through your brain as you carded your fingers through Harry's hair, soothing him as Wanda cleaned up a small cut he'd gotten, playing with a toy helicopter. "Thanks (Y/N)." Harry smiled at you as he exercised his leg, testing the small plaster he'd gotten. Liv came in at the exact time he said that and seemed shocked at his words.

"Harry! She's your Auntie!" She reprimanded, barely making it to the sofa before she flopped.

"No, its fine. It's refreshing." You defend, not wanting any reminders of what Laura and Cooper and Lila might be doing on the other side of the world. Liv raised a brow at you and you raise one back, laughing at her, and her hoping to actually instil some manners into her son despite her own lack of manners. "Plus I am his friend, and friends don't call each other Auntie do they?" You ask Harry who giggles at the thought.

"No." He answered, still giggling. Liv smiled at him fondly as Wanda ruffled his hair.

"Harry, go play outside." Liv told him, gesturing to the small garden they had. It was nice, they had a makeshift swing and plastic slide which seemed unsafe but it was all part of small city life, you thought. It was a far cry from the countryside where Laura lived, the wide open spaces and fields leaving so much room to spare. You were broken out of your thoughts when Harry moved, running outside with Wanda and leaving you and Liv together.

Jason was at work and it was only the girls at home apart from Harry. Even the baby, you thought with a smile. This time around, you were going to get this right. You were going to be there, a part of the baby's childhood, you would be known and remembered in their life even if you went back to Avengers Tower, you would still call and message, hear their first words and bet it would be your name instead of the normal Mum and Dad. You were going to make this work this time. You knew it. "(Y/N), you alright?" Liv asked, placing a hand on yours.

"Yeah, of course I am. Harry is such a sweet child." You complimented, making Liv practically beam with joy.

"Thanks. No, but I meant about Bruce." She replied, making your smile drop.

"What about him?" You ask, feigning innocence. Liv raises a brow, unimpressed by your attempts to avoid the topic of conversation.

"You know what about him." Liv replies, her usual sass dialled to 11. You sigh dramatically, not wanting to broach the subject further but know you have no choice when subjected to the stern glare of Liv (L/N). She's stubborn, loud, but first and foremost, your sister. She didn't change her name when getting married, simply because and you quote, "She is not going to succumb to the old traditions that are out of date." Which in Liv language also translates to "Forget that."

"What do you want to know?" You sigh, giving in.

"Everything." Liv replies, short and simple. Much like herself, you think bitterly before the thought makes you laugh and Liv somehow knows exactly what you are thinking, tapping you on the arm.

"Ow!" You say, rubbing it as she gives you the stern look. "Fine. What do you know? Last time I talked to you it was about…" You trail off, not being able to think. "Did I tell you about the kiss?" You ask, treading the waters.

"What! You kissed?" Liv almost shouts and you jump.

"Shut up!" You choke out, not being able to say anything else. Liv immediately quietens and you breathe a sigh of relief. "Ok then, I guess we have a lot of catching up to do." You say, rolling your eyes as you begin the entire sorry tale. "The night you were helping me get dressed, I went to a party at the Tower and got hit on by a creep. I tried to get away but couldn't when he grabbed my wrist. Then Bruce came and distracted him, which meant I could kick him one and get out of there." You say, while Liv 'awed' at you, dropping the anger. You rolled your eyes again.

"Turns out he broke my wrist, Bruce bandaged it up as best he could and we went back to the party. As the party went on, me and Bruce were joined by the other Avengers and it got into a sort of gathering, talking about my holiday in Spain. Then me and Bruce turned to each other and got close, in a sass battle." You added, trying to make Liv understand as she squealed, making you wonder if she was going to have a heart attack when you got to the actual kiss. "Tony put on music, Kiss the Girl from the Little Mermaid." You told her, making her squeal even more, knowing it was one of her favourite songs despite the movie hate. "Then they were egging us on, getting the wrong idea but Natasha kneed me in the back, pushing me onto him and we kissed." You finished, doing limp, lame jazz hands. It didn't stop Liv's jumping up and down, excited.

"Oh my God! That's so cute! What happened then?" Liv gushed, so happy to hear the news.

"Ultron came and destroyed everything." You deadpanned, making Liv drop her smile.

"WHAT?!" She shouted, making you clamp your hand over her mouth and laugh.

"Joking." You say, making her sigh in relief. "I ran from the room." You state again and Liv's eyes widen again, before groaning and putting her hand in her head.

"You idiot. Seriously?" She asks and you roll your eyes.

"Well I'm sorry I got a little freaked out that I kissed a guy without notice or even any consent that he might want it too." You say, bringing plain morals into it. Liv rolled her eyes.

"Did he kiss you back?" She asked simply and you squirm. "Did he kiss you back?" She repeated, more stern and demanding.

"Yes." You say, succumbing to your defeat.

"Well then I'm pretty sure he wanted it as well." She finished, ending the conversation.

"Fine. Yes, he kissed me back. Yes I liked it. Yes I feel incredibly awkward talking about it." You say, ending the topic. Or not.

"So, you ran. What happened next?" Liv asked, getting comfortable for the next part of the story.

"I got to my room, found out something was wrong and went to the lab where everyone was gathered. It was a sad and angry and very temperamental atmosphere. Thor came in and told us what happened and we all got to work." You say, not wanting to reveal mission details in case Fury found out and got on your case. "I had a breakdown and Tony and Clint found me and took me to Bruce who helped me. I woke up again and nobody was telling me anything so I went to go find Dr Cho, a friend, in the lab. Ultron was there. Took me prisoner and used Helen to do what he wanted." You said, the words bitter in your mouth.

"You got taken prisoner?" Liv asked, her voice soft and gentle and she pulled you in for a hug at your small nod. "I'm so sorry." She apologised in a soothing voice.

"It's not your fault." You say, sniffing. "But Liv, he knew. He knew about Dad. I don't know how but he did. And he threatened me with it." Liv didn't need any more prompting for her to understand what had happened and her hands tightened around yours as she held them.

"What the hell? I'll make a few calls, see what happened." She promised, knowing how much it had affected you. "Anyway, tell me what happened next?" She spoke, trying to retain a calm, happy mood that wasn't affected by the earlier words.

"I got a message out to Bruce and Steve in the Quinjet came. Ultron cleared out, killing everyone but apparently he'd forgotten about me." You say, remembering the horrific sight as you breathe shakily, trying not to cry. Liv rubs your arms supportively, seeing the trauma. "He shot Dr Cho but I got her to a hospital quick enough. I had to rip up the shirt you gave me though, her wounds were bleeding too much." You say apologetically but she waves it off, dismissing the matter.

"Forget it. I can buy you a new one." She smiles at you and you swallow, managing a small one back.

"I waited at the hospital and Bruce came to collect me. We talked for hours and I fell asleep. I don't know what happened then but I got to the Tower and fell asleep. When I woke up, they were leaving without me. I ran to the roof and shouted after them but they had gone. Idiots." You mutter, still harbouring a little resentment at their actions. Liv just smiled at your bond and sighed moving on.

You decided not to tell her about the attempted mugging, knowing she wouldn't be too happy. "I stole one of Tony's cars and made it to the safehouse." You stopped, knowing that telling her about Laura and Cooper and Lila might bring a storm in its wake but approach the subject with careful bravery. "Liv, can you keep a secret?" You ask. "And I mean a government state secret that must never be told to anyone at any cost kind of secret?" You say, stressing the importance of this.

"Yeah of course I can." Liv reassures although you can see her lighting up at the idea of knowing a secret that important.

"You know Hawkeye? Clint Barton?" You ask, broaching the topic lightly.

"Yeah…" She trails off uncertainly, wondering what that has to do with it.

"Well, he has a family. A wife and kids that no one knows about apart from the Avengers and me." You say, spitting it out and finally feeling the pressure rise as you told someone. "And we went there. He has two kids called Cooper and Lila and they call me Auntie and we visit them regularly and they know me better than Harry." You say, rushing it all out so you hope Liv doesn't fully register it and she doesn't hate you. You stop for a minute and Liv smiles at you.

"Is someone feeling guilty?" She asked, patronising you as you roll your eyes.

"Maybe." You say, dragging it out.

"Don't. Its fine, I get it. You're here now and that's what matters." She smiles at you and you smile back, the weight off your shoulders.

"Thanks." You say, smiling. "Anyway, we spent a few days there, awkwardly living the life. Too much awkwardness to tell you about and then we got back, trust me that trip was awkward." You say, not wanting to go into the madness of Laura's house. "Then they got back and I fought to get back as well because they left me again. I came back and fought on Sokovia but then I got trapped. Um, the Hulk saved me." You say faltering, remembering Natasha's reaction to the news.

"That skipped a lot but the most important news is WHAT?" Liv spoke, starting off calm before freaking out like you expected.

"The Hulk saved me?" You repeated uncertainly.

"I heard but seriously? The Hulk, not Bruce? I thought the Hulk only smashed things?" She asked, incredulously and you rolled your eyes having heard it all from Natasha.

"Yeah well, I don't know what happened, he seemed to hear me and save me." You say, mentally cursing yourself for using the words before Liv picked up on them.

"WAIT, HE HEARD YOU? HE DIDN'T SEE YOU?" She asked, practically shouting but this time, you didn't have the energy to stop her.

"Yep." You replied, popping the 'p' bored of the same conversation and having your ear blasted off by your excited sister.

"THIS IS TRUE LOVE IF I EVER SAW IT!" She shouted, but the words made you choke on air and clamp a hand on her mouth to stop the words.

"Liv! You're married! Isn't that true love? Plus, you don't know anything about me and my relationships. Plus there is no relationship, there is nothing. Why are we even talking about this?" You dismiss, not wanting to talk about this again.

"Oh come on. There is something there you can't deny it." Liv tried, making you roll your eyes.

"Don't know if you heard Liv, but I just did." You say, sassing her as she sighs and you smile.

12


	14. Book 2: Chapter 1

Bruce Confession Short Story P14:

"Don't know if you heard Liv, but I just did." You say, sassing her as she sighs and you smile.

"For God's sake honestly, this is giving me physical pain. Actual pain." She stresses, using hand gestures. "Oh God, actual pain is coming. What do I do now?" She spoke, putting a hand on her stomach. She starts to breathe hard. "(Y/N), I'm not kidding I think my water just broke. I think, I think, think. Oh God, oh God. (Y/N), help!" She starts to hyperventilate and you freak out. "Oh God, Oh God, oh God." She repeats like a mantra, holding her stomach.

"Oh my God! Liv, its ok, just breathe. Just breathe, I promise it will be ok. Just breathe." You say, getting up and moving to the phone.

"I am breathing!" She shouts and you try not to get scared yourself.

"Ok, yeah." You say, getting to the phone. You dial the ambulance and call, keeping an eye on Liv as she breathes hard, holding her stomach. "Wanda!" You shout, needing back up.

"Hello special services, which service do you need?" A woman asked and you almost cried in relief.

"Ambulance! I need an ambulance!" You shout into the phone. You hear a beep and another woman comes on the phone.

"Hello, what's your emergency?" She asks and you look over at Liv and try not to make an inappropriate joke.

"My sister is going into labour! I need an ambulance please!" You shout into the phone and she immediately reacts.

"Ok, where are you?" She asks and you tell her. "Sending an ambulance there right now. Please do not worry, keep the patient calm." She says encouragingly and you try not to hyperventilate while Liv is doing the breathing exercises taught to her in the long months.

"Ok, great." You reply quickly before turning to your sister. "Liv!" You shout. "This lady is going to help you." You say, unwillingly patronising.

"I thought you were going to help me?" Liv asks sarcastically.

"Well I'm not a Doctor!" You say back.

"Neither am I." The lady on the phone chips in and you laugh weakly, having put her on speakerphone.

"Well, that works for all of us doesn't it?" Liv replies, trying to keep positive. You hung up on the woman and stashed the phone in your pocket and walked over to the groaning woman.

"Ok, first things first. Keep positive and calm. Check." You says, making Liv laugh lightly. You only stopped when Liv broke out of it with a huge groan, wincing in pain. "Moving on. Second, find somewhere suitable to have the child. A bedroom or big floor somewhere." You say, reciting from memory as you pulled Liv up, holding her on your shoulder. As a head scientist, you were trained in basic first aid and remembered Bruce's stories about incidents like this.

"Ok, come on Liv, let's go." You say, trying to soothe her. "WANDA!" You shout, going louder and really needing back up now. Your leg was aching under the weight despite the huge cast around it, you needed the crutches but couldn't do both. Luckily this time, Wanda heard and came rushing in.

"What's wrong?" She asked, looking around and helping by taking Liv's other arm.

"Liv's going into labour. I need your help." You say, panting as you try to be positive. Harry came in afterwards and you whimpered, wondering what to do. "Um, Harry? Could you please go get some towels?" You say, trying to keep him busy. He doesn't question anything, seeing the situation. He nods and runs off.

"Where are we going?" Wanda asked, heaving as she pulled the groaning Liv up the stairs. With the extra help and less weight on you, your leg eased but it still ached, making you blink back the tears.

"Bedroom. Bedroom. It's easier." Liv repeated, knowing this is where they should go without a doubt. They both nodded and heaved up another stair. The young boy came back with the towels and Liv spoke this time. "Harry honey, can you just put them in me and Dad's bedroom? Oh, and call Dad and tell him I need help yeah?" She asked, not wanting to go further in the whole concept of pregnancy. It wouldn't go down well.

"Ok Mum." Harry nodded, before running off. You kept heaving together and moving slowly but surely up the stairs, Liv's groaning increasing in more pain.

"(Y/N), call Bruce. He's a Doctor, he'll know what to do." Liv orders and you panic.

"What?" You ask and Liv groans again, the contractions getting worse.

"Call Bruce! Now!" She screams and you fumble with your phone, finding Bruce's contact and letting it ring, hoping he'll pick up.

"Come on, come on, come on and pick up!" You mutter into the phone and thankfully, Bruce's voice comes through the phone as you say it.

"(Y/N)?" He asks and you breathe a sigh of relief. "What's wrong?" He asks, hearing your distress.

"Oh thank God. Bruce, Liv's going into labour!" You tell him and you can practically see him straighten as he gets ready for work. "We're getting to the bedroom and an ambulance is on the way. We've got towels and Jason is on his way but I don't know what else to do." You say, bringing him up to date on the events and still hauling Liv up, making occasional grunting sounds, along with Liv's groans of pain.

"Ok, that's good. Well done." He commends and you smile slightly. "Get to the bedroom and get warm water in a bowl or something similar. Cover Liv with the covers and take off her pants. Keep patting her head with a wet towel and keep her cool and ask her to keep breathing calmly." He instructed and you breathed deeper, having something to do and you hauled quicker. "Are the contractions bad?" He asked, going into Doctor mode.

"Liv?" You asked, knowing she heard as it was on speakerphone.

"Yeah, on a scale of 1 to 10, about 4 slash 5." She speaks aloud, and you wince at the thought.

"Get that Bruce?" You ask into the phone.

"Yeah, do what I said and I'll instruct you from there. Ok?" He tells you and you breathe deep to muster enough strength for this.

"Yeah, I'll call you back." You say, hanging up without another word before getting to the bedroom and trying to lay her down before she refuses, feeling more comfortable on the floor. You are at a loss for what to do and call Bruce as Wanda gets warm water with help from Harry. "Bruce?" You ask before pressing on. "She doesn't want to get on the bed." You tell him and he sighs.

"That's fine, just get her comfortable on the floor. Bring the pillows and duvet." He tells you and you rush to the bed, stripping it of its contents. Liv accepts the pillows but gets too hot under the duvet and you tell Bruce. "Is there anything thinner in the room? Something covering but breathable?" He asks, listing the requirements and you scan the room, looking around.

"Um, will the bedsheets do?" You ask, not finding anything else.

"Yeah that's fine," He says and you burst into action, ripping them off as fast as you can. "Double them up on her lower body get that wet towel as quick as you can." You do exactly that before rushing to the bathroom with one of the towels and run it under cold water quickly.

"Liv, just keep calm for me yeah? Just keep breathing. Ignore me if that helps." You say, gently patting her head as you keep the phone on the table calling out questions to Bruce. Liv just nods at your words, panting and taking deep breaths. "That's great Liv. That's perfect, hey Jason is on his way I bet." You smile, staying by her side.

"Yeah, keep her calm. Mental images if that works." Bruce references to your tactic.

"Right, you hear that Liv? Keep calm and make my job easier." You smile, knowing it would be easier to make her laugh than cry.

"Your job? Who's the one giving birth?" She asked, panting but smiling.

"Well, your right about that. I'd take helping than giving birth any day." You smile, laughing as she groans.

"So I'm never going to get any nieces and nephews?" She asks, her voice growing higher as she lets out a small scream. You rush to her, rubbing her arms soothingly, patting the towel over her head as they squeezed each other's hands.

"Probably not." You breathe, rushing around. You forgot Bruce was on the phone and heard and didn't know it as he kept quiet about the fact he heard it. He huffed up a few breaths and talked again.

"Is she doing alright?" He asked, acting as if he'd just been running.

"Yeah, kind of. I mean, as much as you can be in the middle of giving birth I guess." You say, tilting your head, still comforting Liv. "Are you alright? Why are you so out of breath?" You asked, picking up on his heavy breathing.

"Just in the middle of an experiment." He excused himself.

"Oh I'm sorry for interrupting you!" You say, frantic as you check the stairs to see Wanda and Harry carefully bringing up a huge basin of water.

"It's fine. Are her contractions getting worse?" Bruce dismissed, moving on.

"Yeah, much worse thanks. That normal?" Liv replied as you helped them drag it up and put it next to Liv ready for when the little girl came.

"Perfectly, don't worry about it." Bruce reassured, trying to keep her calm, not knowing the only thing running through her mind was how perfect he seemed for you when she heard you interact.

"I kind of am. I can't really stop it." Liv called back, earning a chuckle from the scientist. You come back in and kneel by her side again, patting her head with the towel and keeping her cool as Wanda kneels the other side, holding her hand.

"Well as long as you keep rating the pain so I can tell you when to push." Bruce conditioned, making you sigh/laugh, leaning your head on Liv's side for a moment before getting back up with renewed vigour, flicking your hair out of your face and tying whatever you can of it into a messy bun to keep out of your face as you move to the window to watch for any ambulances and see one pulling up.

"Yes!" You laughed, thundering down the stairs as you crashed into the door and opened it, ushering them in with their equipment. "Um, she's upstairs on the left. We've set up as best as we can and you have to have the child here now, it's too late." You explained, setting the conditions as you brought up the rear, closing the door as they went into the bedroom, crowding it as Wanda moved Harry out of the room as he shouted encouragement to his mother. You followed the doctors and held Liv's hand as you smiled at her, saying encouragement before you heard Harry outside, screaming for his mother.

"(Y/N) please, get Harry. It's, it's important." Liv asked and you looked to the doctors.

"Only one family member in here at a time, it is too crowded already. Bring the boy in and you have to leave." The nurse smiled sympathetically as she told you. You saw Liv's pleading face and made your mind up easily.

"I'll go get him, just wait here. Ok?" You ask, patting her hand one last time before walking out and hearing her thank you repeatedly. A tear slipped down your face and you found Harry in floods of tears outside, being consoled by Wanda and took them inside. Wanda changed their minds to let her and Harry in together and you took the phone with Bruce on it and walked downstairs. "There you go, everything as it should be." You mutter to Liv before you walk and try to control the shaking of your shocked body.

"(Y/N)?" Bruce asks you as you stay silent. You'd almost forgotten he was there and jumped at his voice. "Are you there?" He asks and you wipe away the tears that slipped down your face.

"Yeah, yeah I'm still here." You say shakily, still ruffled and tear stained as you rake a hand through your hair, trying to calm down.

"Are you alright?" He asked, hearing your shaky voice.

"Sort of, just… overwhelmed." You say, trying to think of something. You slid down the wall near the sofa, trying to breathe properly. You felt suffocated, sweaty and like your throat was closing up.

"That's understandable. Just try to calm down." He says supportively and you blow out a breath, moving the stray hairs from your face and wiping away the sweat from your forehead. "Focus on my voice if it helps." Bruce offered and you closed your eyes, doing just that. He took this as a sign that you were listening and kept talking to steady you. "You just helped Liv, she's safe in the doctor's hands. You brought Harry and gave Wanda a home. You've done that, they're all happy because of you." He reminded, making you smile as you blew out another breath, slowly steadying it.

"Yeah, yeah you're right." You say, confirming it half-heartedly as you keep wiping your face.

"Yeah, I am right. You did do that and you can relax now. You can rest." He reassured and you let out a breath, resting your head on the wall as you brought your knees up to your chest.

"Thanks Bruce." You spoke half-heartedly, knowing he was right but needing more than just a voice. You needed someone to lean on, to have wrap an arm around you and feel their presence there with yours. But you knew you couldn't. You had to wait, be patient but when you thought about it, wait for what? You weren't going to have anything more than a friendship with Bruce, you had no one there. If you wanted something more, you had to find someone else. Liv had Jason and Harry, Clint had Laura and Cooper and Lila, Tony had Pepper and you had no one. Bruce wouldn't let you close enough and you couldn't disguise how shallow it sounded, but if you wanted a presence like that, you had to find someone yourself.

"You're welcome. Now get some rest ok?" He dismissed, moving on to your well-being like he always did. The thought made you sniff with tears.

"How can I? Liv's probably going to be screaming." You spoke, immediately regretting how it sounded as it just made your stomach flip as you held back the bile.

"She's giving birth, it will happen. But I promise she will be ok. She's done it before. She will be ok." He repeated, reassuring you.

"Hmm, yeah, yeah she will. Hey, let's talk about something else." You moved on, not being able to contain your nerves for Liv. It was still on speakerphone and you put it back to normal, not wanting to disturb anyone with the noise although you doubted they'd be able to hear with all the commotion.

"Sure." Bruce agreed, knowing your reasons. "Hey, you know Tony? He took Pepper out on a date and did a whole fireworks display for her." He told you and you smiled.

"That sounds exactly like Tony. Did Pepper tell him off because of the environment or something?" You ask, knowing Pepper isn't too fond of fireworks.

"Yeah, how did you know?" He asked and you smiled.

"Pepper hates fireworks but she never tells anyone. I only found out because I saw her freak out." You reveal, remembering her horror at the loud popping sounds.

"Oh, someone should tell Tony." Bruce spoke, thinking out loud.

"Are you?" You asked, smiling at the thought.

"No." He replied and you started laughing at his straight out answer. "Why would I? He's the one in the relationship, he should work it out himself." Bruce justified, bringing his sassier side to the light. It had taken you months to even find out about this side of him than get him to comfortably reveal it to you. You laughed again at his words.

"But he's your friend! Wouldn't you want him to help you with your girlfriend?" You ask incredulously and Bruce replied with a second delay making you almost choke on air as you processed his words.

"I wouldn't need him to." Cue choking on air. "I would pay enough attention to her to make sure I knew what would be perfect for a date." Bruce pledged and you ceased your choking enough to hear it and tried to pretend you hadn't.

"Aw, Bruce is confident in his girlfriend." You tease, trying to keep it light-hearted. The fact you were talking about this made your brain blow up as you thought of how heartbroken you'd been before.

"Yeah, because I know her well enough." Bruce smiled and you swallowed, not wanting to delve deeper but not able to stop your mouth before it spoke.

"You must spend a lot of time with her." You observed and Bruce chuckled on the other line.

"Yep, a lot. All day, if she is there in the first place." He spoke, referring to your holiday and your heart flipped. Did he like you?

"Who is she?" You ask in a whisper, the suspense killing you. But before he could answer, Wanda came in in a state.

"(Y/N) come quickly! The baby is here!" She shouted and every other thing was forgotten as you rushed to get up, letting out a yell as the pain of your broken leg coming crashing back down.

"(Y/N)? Are you alright?" Bruce asked, his voice frantic over the phone.

"Just, my, leg." You panted out between breaths, leaning against the wall as Wanda moved to help you. Your crutches were forgotten somewhere and you couldn't be bothered to find them.

"You need to take that easy! Did you use the crutches when helping Liv?" He asked and your silence was only a confirmation. "(Y/N)! You could injure it more like that!" He stated, angry at your lack of care for your leg.

"I know, I'm sorry but I had to help Liv quickly." You say earnestly, begging for forgiveness as you hobbled to the stairs. "I've got to go now!" You say, cutting him off as you hang up and pocket the phone, earning a look from Wanda. "What? We have to go see the baby come on!" You say, hauling yourself up the stairs. No more is said about it and you meet the little girl, holding her gently and Jason had come in time, staying with Liv and the baby and Harry, all 4 of them revelling in the joy of a baby.

They all fall asleep in complete exhaustion, you taking the baby while Jason and Liv rest together, both having taken the week off. You watch the baby while everyone else sleeps, not wanting to leave her alone. You watch as she sleeps and endlessly rock her, closing the windows and doing everything in your power to keep her happy and peaceful. The morning comes with no rest and you shushing her slowly as she cries. You watch her carefully and hobble on your leg to Wanda's room and find her dressed and on her phone. You and the Avengers had gotten her a normal, slightly small and easy to use phone which she had mastered easily and had become attached to almost immediately. "Wanda!" You whisper, capturing her attention as she looks up with a smile, holding out her hands for the baby which you readily give her.

"What's wrong?" She asks, rocking her as she cries in her arms. "She's alright aren't you? You're perfect." She cooed to her as she starts to quieten but still cry.

"I was hoping you could tell me. She's been crying for a few minutes, I don't know what's happening." You say, referencing to her powers. Wanda nods, understanding and being in more control of her powers. She places a hand above her head and a few jets of red stream out, dancing above the infant's head before she looks back up with amusement in her features.

"She's hungry." She concluded and you throw your hands up.

"So what? Should I mash up some banana?" You ask, needing to know the details and Wanda laughs.

"Not that kind of hungry." She hints as your eyes widen in realisation.

"You don't mean…?" You trail off and Wanda smiled, nodding and you groan.

"What did you think she ate?" She asked with a laugh.

"I don't know! I've never looked after children before." You defend your lack of knowledge about infants. "Wait, what do I do now?" You ask, knowing Liv was asleep and you didn't want to wake her, not after childbirth. She had had a lot to deal with.

"Get Liv, she has to be awake now yes?" Wanda asked, making you see sense as you nodded, walking out of the room and into Liv's. She was waking up, brushing sleep out of her eyes as she moved away from the still sleeping Jason. Once she saw you she got up and stumbled, you catching her as she regained balance. You both walked out, you supporting Liv every step of the way.

"What's wrong?" She asked as you stumbled together.

"Your child need you." You say, not wanting to say anything else. Liv raised an eyebrow sensing there was more to the conversation. "Because she is hungry." You finish, not saying the words at all as Liv clicked and laughed at your awkwardness.

"Fine, call Bruce and give him my thanks. It was nice to get through it with a brother's help." Liv complimented, making you tilt your head at her as you wonder about the meaning of her words before it clicks.

"A brother?" You ask sceptically, wanting to understand properly before she insinuated something else about you and Bruce.

"Well, when you two get married, he's my brother but he's already my brother because you are dating and I'm not traditional." Liv explained nonchalantly and caught you off guard as you gasped, moving back and crossing your arms angrily.

"Liv! Not again! Are you kidding me? I am never telling you anything ever again!" You conclude, helping her get inside the room as you concede and then leave, going to do what she said but not letting her know that. You went into the garden and leant against the wall dialling the number on the phone and letting it ring as you waited for the voice you knew to pick up. When it did, you almost forgot why you were calling.

"(Y/N)?" Bruce asked. "Are you alright, how is Liv?"

"She's fine. The baby was born yesterday, she's completely healthy and Liv's fine. Just a bit tired." You sympathise, letting out a sigh.

"That's completely normal. Let her rest, it was hard for her." Bruce replied, his voice calm and soothing, making you smiled and feel like your friendship was slowly rebuilding. Slowly but surely, hopefully.

"Yeah Bruce, I totally couldn't tell from the screaming." You tease, laughing at your joke.

"Very funny (Y/N), glad to see you're still alright." Bruce fired back. You just laughed at his answer and he carried on. "But really? Are you alright?" He asked, worry reclaiming his voice. "Yesterday, you were still in pain because of your leg. Are you resting it enough?" He asked.

"Yes Dr Bruce I'm fine." You deadpanned, joking around with him. "Anyway, what about you? Recovered from the weirdest phone call of your life?" She asked, laughing as you remembered how hard it must be to have a conversation and guide someone through birth.

"Believe it or not, that wasn't the weirdest phone call of my life." Bruce revealed and you raised a brow although he couldn't see it.

"Really?" You asked, confused. What could've been weirder?

"Yeah, it wasn't one. It was about 3." Bruce pretended to count as you sighed, having been caught out.

"Ha… ha." You elongated, trying to hide your amusement. "Very clever Bruce. Is this what your 7 PHD's trained for?" You asked sarcastically.

"No, this is just my natural charisma." Bruce laughed and you laughed as well, his laugh becoming more and more sarcastic at the end. "You don't believe me?" Bruce asked indignantly. His only answer was a snorting laughter.

"Not really. Sorry." You apologise, still laughing as you try to hold it in.

"Well that's so kind of you (Y/N)." He spoke mockingly as she calmed down.

"Yeah well, you asked for it. That joke really? Even my Mum doesn't make jokes like that." You say, shaking your head.

"What does she do then?" Bruce asked.

"She usually just jumps out from behind doors and stuff, shouting "Surprise!" a lot. It's quite funny because we act surprised but we've gotten quite used to it now." You explain with a fond smile. You and Bruce talk for a long time, getting lost in time as you sit together, talking each other through your days, blissfully uninterrupted by anyone else. "Oh yeah, Liv wants to give her thanks for helping her through the birth." You remember, nearing the end of the day, having talked for hours.

"Oh it's fine." Bruce told her graciously. "It was… interesting to say the least." Bruce joked, making you laugh again.

"Yeah, that's being kind but well done for trying." You commended politely, again trying not to laugh.

"Well, it was interesting. I may be medically trained but I have never had to use my birthing knowledge over the phone." He told her and you consider his point.

"Yeah, well. You've got a point. Wanda's doing really well though, I think taking her with me was the best choice indefinitely. She loves the baby and is way more in control of her powers." You report, having nothing else to say about the birth, the subject exhausted by the two of you, going back on it all day.

"That's good to hear." Bruce spoke genuinely but you could hear the sad tone in his voice making you wonder what was wrong.

"Bruce? What is it? What's wrong?" You asked, worry creeping into your voice.

"Nothing, its fine." He spoke, the words becoming more assured but now you had identified something was wrong, you weren't going to let go.

"Bruce…" You spoke warningly, wondering what it was about.

"Well, it was last minute so it was not your fault at all…" He began, rushing to console you before you knew what it was about but the words made your stomach turn.

"My fault?" You question quickly.

"It's not your fault. We just forgot that Wanda is not U.S. citizen, she doesn't have a passport or any documents and now, Tony is in a legal battle with the government about her. He managed to keep it under wraps and away from the press vultures but… It's not going so well." Bruce confided and you closed your eyes, mentally cursing and trying to keep calm.

"Oh my God. What have I done?" You breathe.

"It's not your fault! Look what the trip's done for her! You said it was the best choice for her indefinitely and you were right! She's so much better there than she ever could have been here!" Bruce tried to persuade as you breathe back the tears. You'd screwed up, again.

"How bad is it going?" You asked, practically disregarding every word Bruce had said. He was right in all aspects but it didn't feel like it. You received no reply and tried again. "Bruce… How bad?" You ask again, becoming more firm.

"They are considering arrest until further notice." Bruce spoke in a small voice, swallowing as he realised how bad it actually was.

"Oh god. I need to come back. I can fix this, I need to." You say, making up your mind as you start getting up.

"No (Y/N)!" Bruce protested. "You need to stay there! You're having fun, you're reconnecting with your family! This is good for you, you don't need to bother with us here, we are fine!" He tried, his voice raising as he got up in response as well.

"Wanda, you and Tony, Clint and Natasha and Thor and everyone else are all my family as well. And you need help, so I will come." You spoke, silencing the other line as you waited for his response, for some reason needing confirmation he was ok with it to move again.

"(Y/N), you are right." He admitted. "We do need you, but think about it. Do you really want to come back for us before you can and possibly not go back there for however long? Or do you want to live it to the full and then come back? Tony can hold his own until then. He can hold them off." Bruce assured, raising some good points as you considered what he was saying. You were silent for a moment, thinking it over. "I promise, we will put everything into this case and when you come back you can finish it off. But for now, just wait. Just enjoy your niece and sister and family." He advised.

"Damnit, now you're right." You say, giving in and earning a laugh. He _was_ right. "But I still feel awful. If I had thought it through better, this wouldn't be happening." You told him, sinking back to the ground and hearing him do the same.

"Hey, you remember yesterday when I was telling you about how I would pay attention to my girlfriend so I wouldn't need Tony to tell me anything about them?" He asked, making you sharply intake breath. He took this as a sign you did and carried on. "And you asked who it was? Well, would it make you happy if I told you?" He asked, silence filling both lines.

"Yes." You replied shortly, not being able to think of anything else.

"You." He replied just as shortly and the click on the phone told you he had hung up and you sat there, the dialling tone filling your ear as you sat in shock. An irrepressible smile filled your face and you didn't even bother to try and stop it and you started to laugh, bringing the phone down and looking at it. She hung up as well and bit her lip happily. Wanda came into the room and saw her smile, wondering what happened.

"Finally got off the phone with your scientist?" She asked in her Sokovia born accent. You laughed even more as you tried to repress it. "What happened?" She asked, getting more interested.

"I don't know." You say in disbelief. "I honestly don't." You say, a smile permanently stuck on your face.

"What do you mean? Actually, give me a minute." She spoke, running upstairs and grabbing Liv and Jason as they put the baby to bed together, totally in love as they looked at each other. Wanda smirked at them, having seen the same look between you and Bruce before and waiting until they'd done before she dragged them downstairs. They sat by you who was still smiling, the laughter barely subsiding. "You see what I mean?" She asked, pointing at you and that mere gesture sent you bursting into more laughter. "She's gone crazy."

"No, this is a crush. She's been on the phone with my bro in-law all day." Liv spoke, testing the waters and when you didn't chastise her for calling Bruce her brother, she tilted her head in disbelief. "It actually is! Oh my God, what happened?" She asked, leaning forwards. "What did he say?"

"We were talking yesterday and he told me he would pay attention to his girlfriend and be the greatest boyfriend and stuff and I asked who she was but then Wanda came in and told me the baby was born. So we hung up." You say, concluding it.

"And? What happened?" Liv asked, hooked.

"We were talking about it again and he asked if he should tell me who it was. I said yes and…" You swallow, a smile breathing new life into your features.

"And?"

"He said it was me."

"What?"

"Yep."

"Are you serious?"

"Yep."

"YES!" Liv screeched with Wanda, both of them getting giddy with excitement and you watched, joining in when they turned to you. Jason watched with an amused smile, happy for his family.

10


	15. Book 2: Chapter 2

Bruce Confession Short Story P15:

 **Author's Note: So, I haven't really written any of these on this story before but I just wanted to say thanks for reading it guys. It is a bit crazy that a 10 minutes after I posted the first 14(?) chapters, I get a notification someone is reading and had favorited it. Also, I just want to say that Bruce did not 'cheat' on (Y/N) with Natasha. I put cheat in quote marks because you guys weren't technically together but it felt like it. Nothing happened between Natasha and Bruce in AOU in my version, he's totally besotted with (Y/N). So don't worry about that becoming an issue, but I also just want to warn you about this chapter and I apologise in advance. I just had to go where the story wanted me to. Once again, thank you for reading and sorry in advance.**

 **P.S. I won't be doing any more of these Author's Notes. Not unless I have something very important to say or I am feeling overcome with gratitude. And you guys might have to wait a long time for the next chapter, sorry. This story has been in the works for about 5 months and it took me a long time to write those chapters. Even though I have a good idea where I want to go with this, I am still working on it and other stories as well so it might take some time. Sorry again. I can't really speed things up. I do have school and work etc. But it is the summer holidays so I might be getting things out much quicker. Keep in mind that is a 'might'. Anyway, enjoy.**

"We were talking about it again and he asked if he should tell me who it was. I said yes and…" You swallow, a smile breathing new life into your features.

"And?"

"He said it was me."

"What?"

"Yep."

"Are you serious?"

"Yep."

"YES!" Liv screeched with Wanda, both of them getting giddy with excitement and you watched, joining in when they turned to you. Jason watched with an amused smile, happy for his family.

"Well, seems like you figured out what you want." Jason smiled as he nudged you, referencing his advice.

"Seems like I did." You smile back, nudging him as well.

"Well, this is nice. All my family, happy at last!" Wanda spoke, sighing in relief as she did making you laugh kindly at her.

"Yeah well, I need to make sure. We just left it at that, I don't know what he meant or anything." You shrug, trying to keep it together.

"Oh, I've seen you two together. You two are meant for each other and don't let any doubt ever cross your mind about it yeah?" Liv supported, smiling at you whilst winking.

"Yeah, great. Sure but first. We need a family reunion. Mum, needs to meet her second grandchild because she isn't getting any from me." You joke, knowing Bruce's thoughts on any of his own children. You got into deep conversations sometimes but you always managed to pull him out of it. He had always loved children but after the Hulk, the idea just terrified him instead. He knew that if he did, it was possible that the mutated gene would be passed on and he would probably try and kill himself again if it did. You had said you never wanted children as well as a joke but relaying the truth behind it. You didn't want to make the same mistake that your mother had in choosing your father and wouldn't wish the terror on anyone.

"Yeah well, an adopted child is a child nonetheless." Liv reminded, not bothering to try and convince you to try childbirth as it was your choice but just showing you there were other options out there.

"We can have a little baby shower and then I can go back to America. I have to be quick." You told her, explaining everything as Liv looked slightly suspicious. Although she did tease you about Bruce often enough, she did know the difference between something serious that was troubling you although you tried to hide it like you always did.

"Sure. (Y/N), come with me, we can call Mum." Liv instructed, making you sigh. You knew she had figured you out and the more people who knew, the more people Wanda could read minds from and understand instantly. You followed without a word, smiling at Jason as he invited Wanda to go with him to the baby. Of course he understood Liv's tones and knew to distract. "Ok, what's happening?"

"Can't tell you." You replied simply.

"Is this another SHIELD job?" She asked, hands on hips.

"No."

"Another robot battle?"

"Feels like it." You murmur, knowing the people who normally opposed superheroes had the exact same points and would repeat them constantly, no matter how many times you proved them wrong. It felt like a broken record, or a robot battle.

"So it is?"

"No."

"So what is it?"

"I told you, can't tell you." You smirk, happy to have gotten a one up on your sister.

"Why not? It's important, not to do with Bruce and to do with America. What could that be?" Liv asked, the multitude of answers coming to her mind scaring her.

"Ok, calm it." You instruct, slightly freaked out by how freaked out she was becoming.

"How?" She asked, practically tearing her hair out. "I just got my family all back together and now this? I can't do it. I just can't." Liv told her, too scared to listen to any rational thought. So you did what you had always wanted to. You slapped her.

"Shut up."

"Ow! What was that for, you witch?" She asked, holding her cheek. You hadn't slapped her particularly hard but the sound resonated through the house, making it seem worse than it actually was.

"Because you were scared and when you're scared I'm scared." You explain in a monotone, wondering what she would do in response.

"Sorry." She muttered.

"Good. Now drop it. You'll see when I go." You instruct, walking out and leaving her to call your mother on her own.

"Well that's just perfect isn't it? Great talk sis! Great. Talk!" Liv shouted after you, pissed at your lack of response.

"I know!" You call back, smiling. She sighs dramatically behind you and you ignore her, walking back in to find Harry sitting there, looking up at you quizzically. "Hey honey, what's up?" You ask, bending down slightly.

"I heard you and Mum. What happened to Auntie Wanda?" He asked innocently and your heart felt like it was breaking exactly as he said it.

"Nothing sweetie." You say, dismissing it.

"It was something though, Auntie Wanda's in trouble." Harry asked, trying not to show his fear as he thought of his dear Auntie Wanda. He and the brunette had gotten very close and as a result, both had grown extremely fond of each other. Wanda often amused him with her powers, making things lift up or bringing a book to him that he wanted to read with her without getting up while he whispered the Harry Potter spells, pretending he was a wizard. He loved his Auntie Wanda very much and any thought of anything happening to her was frightening for him. "Is Auntie Wanda in trouble?" He asked again, breaking you out of your trance.

"Yes, but don't tell your Mum. I can handle it." You say, taking a wild leap of faith and telling the truth.

"What happened to her?" He asked, slightly impatient but mostly scared.

"It's just that some government people don't like her. They think she's dangerous is all but don't worry, I'll change their minds." You explain, in the most child friendly way possible that you can think of in the moment.

"How?" The question lingered in the air, poisoning the air. You swore that as you breathed, it tasted bitter and left a nasty aftertaste.

"Have you ever known me to back down? I can be very persuasive. Just you wait and see, those government people don't know what they started." You told him, new determination shining in your eyes as Harry looked up hopefully at you. "Come on, let's go find Auntie Wanda. Just don't tell her any of this ok?" You asked, making a quick agreement with your nephew, taking his hand as he nodded. "Good."

.~~.

"So, what are we going to play today?" Harry asked at 7:00 in the morning. You groan, barely able to open your eyes with all the crust in them. You sit up, your hair falling in front of your face as you do and you flick it out, just for the fun of it. "Auntie (Y/N)?" Harry asks again in his innocent voice and you look to your phone for the time and find a notification reminding you to get Harry ready for school because the holidays are over.

"Harry sweetie, we have to get you ready for school. We can't play right now." You tell the boy and your eyes are open enough to see his smile drop as he stands in his pyjamas, ready with his action figures. "I'm sorry but we can play when you get back?" You suggest and suddenly his mood lifts completely and you smile, going to Wanda's room. "Hey Wanda, can you make Harry pancakes? You know he loves yours the most." You ask, appealing to the sleepy Sokovian.

"Sure, but why so early?" She asked, her long brown locks looking perfect. You had to hold back the curses.

"He has school, I forgot to set an alarm." You tell her, still stretching and waking up.

"I'm glad I didn't go to school." Wanda mumbles and nods as reply to your question and you smile and pat her on the arm before leaving and having a quick shower to wake yourself up.

You decide to let Liv and Jason sleep. Jason had only two more days left until he had to get back to work and they had a lot of work to do at home anyway. You scale the wardrobes, looking through them to find Harry's uniform. You barely remembered to iron them and do the trousers and jumper as best as you can, putting them in his room. But when you got to his shirt, you gave up and just did the sleeves and shrugged off the guilt. After that you try and find his school bag and homework to pack and rush to the baby's room to sooth her after she starts crying and shush her gently until she goes back to sleep and then rush downstairs to give Harry his bag.

He's already dressed thanks to Wanda and you don't hesitate to scoff the pancakes she's made you as well and give her a quick hug in thanks with a quick, "You're the best." And then you manage to remember to pack his school lunchbox and understand which school Harry actually goes to and thank Google Maps for listing it and walk with Wanda to his school, being guided by Google Maps. Yesterday seemed to wiped from your mind in the frenzy of the school run and you waved Harry off to school as he found his friends. "Bye Harry!"

"Goodbye Harry!" Wanda shouts as well, waving a hand in the air.

"Remember to meet us back here after school!" You condition and he laughs, turning back to his friends. You were about to turn around as well when Wanda grips your hand and you look back in confusion. A boy is looking at Harry's group sulkily and is about to storm over when Wanda send an indiscreet ball of red light to his head and he smiles instead, going to join some other boys and playing. You looked at Wanda with a raised eyebrow and she shrugs innocently with a smirk on her face. "Show off." You tell her and she laughs, both of you walking home and discussing how hard it is to do the school run.

"I didn't think it would be so hard after holidays." Wanda moaned, complaining about how much her legs hurt.

"Neither did I. I always thought I was in pretty good shape." You muse, rolling your head before pulling out your key and opening the door to the house.

"You always think you're in good shape until you have kids!" Liv calls out from the kitchen, laughing at their state. They laugh sarcastically back and flop onto the sofa, only sitting up straighter when Liv brings in a chocolate Swiss roll. "There you go." She smiles, cutting them pieces onto plates and passing it to them.

"Aw thanks sis. You're the best." You say, taking your piece as Wanda mumbles her approval, her mouth full of cake.

"Well, you did take care of the school run. That is quite the achievement so I decided cake would be in order." Liv smiled, sitting in between them. When she did, she put all her weight into it and both of the girls let out a yell, their legs moving before they were ready. Liv only laughed at their pain and clapped a hand on their arms.

"If you hadn't brought me cake, you would be dead right now." You tell her as she smiles devilishly. She looks infinitely better from a week ago when she was 10 times bigger and laying on the floor, screaming.

"So, now that I'm fully recovered, we should get down to business. First order, what should my little girl's name be?" Liv asked, ignoring your death threat.

"Anabella?" Wanda suggested.

"Arabella?" You suggest, smiling for a moment before seeing both Wanda and Liv's faces. "Ok."

"Brielle?"

"Marianne?"

"Layla?"

"Anastasia?"

"I am not naming my child after a lost Russian princess."

"Ok, what about…?"

"Actually you know what? Mariana sounds really good." Liv decides, not wanting to hear any more names.

"Marianne. Mari for short." You smile, agreeing with her.

"Marianne means bitter. I think Mariana is better." Wanda laughs, her laughter encouraging the others as well.

"What does Mariana mean?" Liv asks, wanting her child to have a beautiful and meaningful name.

"I am not sure. Mother loved name meanings but I have never heard this one." Wanda told her while you looked it up behind them.

"Um, Blessed Virgin." You say, skimming the Google answer and laughing as you looked up. "I'm the only clever one here." You shake your phone, showing them your answer and Liv laughs, mainly from exhaustion and humour.

"Blessed Virgin?" She asks and you nod, repeating it.

"Blessed Virgin."

"Well, at least that settles a few worries." Liv shrugs, the room quiet before all 3 women burst into laughter again. They all stayed there, laughing and talking about various things and ending up finishing half the Swiss roll.

"Cut me another piece please?" You ask, looking at the chocolate with longing in your eyes.

"No, this is for Jason." Liv tells you sternly, packaging it again and sitting back down when they all hear the door open and look at each other before laughing again. Jason walks in and sees all 3 of them in hysterics.

"Are you alright?" He asks uncertainly with a smirk.

"Not really." You say, wiping tears from your face.

"We've been eating chocolate." Wanda excuses, pointing to the Swiss roll which Jason chances a glance at before looking back at his wife.

"I'm just crazy, you know that." Liv laughs, looking up at her husband. At this, Jason goes down on his knees and cupping Liv's cheek he smiles.

"I know you are, that's why I love you." He smiles, leaning in for a kiss. Liv reciprocates and both you and Wanda hold hands behind them and smile, making little 'aww' noises at their love.

"Alright, you can stop now. It does get awkward watching my sister kiss her husband." You say, watching as they deepen the kiss. Just to ignore you and carry on as you get up in disgust, hobbling away into the kitchen with your phone as you make puking noises. Immature, but fun. You look around and see a few crumbs on the floor and move to get the dustpan and brush to brush it up when your phone starts to ring. You look at the caller ID and see Tony's name. It immediately throws you off and you decide to leave the crumbs in favour of the privacy of the garden. "Tony?" You ask as soon as you pick up.

"What, no hello?" He asks jokingly but you can hear the fake joy in it. He normally doesn't have to try but this time, they were both on edge given recent news.

"Tony." You reprimand lightly, not really feeling good about the purpose of the call already.

"Bruce told you huh?" He asks and doesn't really need an answer but you nod anyway.

"Yeah. Yesterday." You tell him quickly, wanting to move on in case he asks about what else you talked about.

"So you know I can only stall them for so long right?" He asked and you closed your eyes, anticipating the bad news.

"How long have I got?" You ask monotone, glad he couldn't see your face, as you wonder how long it would take until you had to go back and practically reveal your past. Even Tony didn't know the specifics of what happened in your past. Only Fury had managed to find out everything and that was only because he'd saved you but he'd promised to keep it out of the records and quiet from everyone.

"A week max, that's all I can give you. I'm sorry." Tony spoke quietly, a big difference from his normal, boisterous self.

"It's alright. It had to happen." You swallow back the tears, looking through the window to the living room, having walked all around the garden. Wanda was amusing them all with her powers, levitating the chocolate cake out of Jason's reach and he gave up, rushing upstairs to look after the new-born, newly named Mariana. The baby monitor had revealed that she was awake and crying and Liv got up after him a few moments later with Wanda in tow. In the new silence of the living room, you watched, trying to keep the tears at bay.

"(Y/N)?" Tony asked sadly, trying to be kind as he could. "I've paid for your ticket. Sunday at 5:00. First class." He tried to bring some humour into the situation which only made you laugh for a moment before you contained your tears in a watery smile.

"Thanks Tony. I'll be there." You say, hanging up. You couldn't take any more of it and wiped at tears from your eye, breathing back the rest and trying to regain your composure. You hobble back into the empty living room and sit down on the sofa, raking a hand through your tangled mess of hair, not remembering to brush it that morning and absent-mindedly comb it with your fingers, chewing your lip and debating how to end the trip and embrace your past once and for all.

"Liv, you know I love you like a sister. But I need my sleep." You heard Wanda's voice say as the two of them walk into the room.

"How do you think I feel?" Liv protested, obviously trying to persuade her to do something.

"(Y/N), talk some sense into her please?" Wanda asked you, pleading you as she sat down.

"What about?" You ask, trying to seem normal.

"Liv wants us to do the school run every day." Wanda tells you with a pout on her face.

"Not every day. Just until I get it together." Liv tried to twist the words.

"So every day then." You say, laughing as you put up a hand for Wanda to high five which she does. The two of you only stop when you see Liv's glare. "Ok, ok. Calm down." You say, trying to calm down the fire practically flying out of her ears.

"So you'll do it?" Liv asked, brightening up immediately. "Yes! Thanks guys!" She interrupted, not letting you talk. Wanda glared at you and you just shrugged, knowing arguing would never had worked anyway. You let out a small breath, knowing that the time you spent here was not a mistake at all. It was the best decision you could've made for both you and Wanda. But there were repercussions for decisions and you had to go face them. You had to leave your haven.

"Hey, can I go hospital and finally get this stupid cast off?" You ask, knowing what you had to do. You had to sort your life out first and foremost. And that meant showing no weakness. Government assholes would prey on any weakness they saw.

"Sure… when do you want the appointment?" Liv asked warily, wondering where your change of topic came from. She wasn't an idiot, she knew when her sister was being weird and she knew when her sister was hiding something. She just couldn't always get you to confess what it was.

"Is tonight possible?" You ask, knowing you looked suspicious but not really caring at that point. Your brain was too frazzled to think of hiding anything properly, and especially not from Liv.

"I'll call." Liv assured, smiling at you as you managed to give a brief one back. She walked out, going to get her phone when she walked back in moments later. "Hey Wanda, can you check on Mariana?" She asked and you smiled properly at her, gratefulness in your expression. Wanda was still too kind to refuse her host's request but she knew that Liv was just trying to distract her from asking about you. She just nodded and got up silently, the mood suddenly too sombre to speak. "You're welcome." Live smiled smugly.

"No reason to say thanks now is there?" You joke, trying not to be so quiet and withdrawn.

"Ha, ha." Liv smiled back, not pushing it as she walked out and made the call, leaving you silent. You sat there, wondering how everyone would take the truth. You sat for a few moments before not being able to take it anymore and got up, going to the guest room instead and sat down on your bed before just giving up and flopping onto it. You stared up at the ceiling and closed your eyes, all energy sapped from your body.

"How do I do this?" You murmur, feeling a headache starting to form. You were still looking at the ceiling before your phone rang. You pull it out of your pocket and pick up before you saw the caller ID. "Hello?" You ask dejectedly, placing a cold hand against your forehead, trying to combat the fever you were getting.

"What's wrong?" A familiar voice ask and you almost jump when you realise it was Bruce.

"Bruce?" You ask without waiting for an answer. "Why does it seem like something's wrong?" You asked, feigning innocence.

"Because you sounded like you were about to cry." He replied bluntly.

"No I wasn't." You say, trying to seem normal. "I was just drinking water." You curse your own mind as you say it, mentally arguing with yourself about how stupid it sounded. Bruce didn't reply and you wait for a few moments. "Bruce?" You ask hesitantly. "You still there?"

"Yep, I'm just going to wait until you tell me what's wrong." He replies and your eyes widen. Great (!) You sit there, waiting patiently until you can't take it. It only takes a few minutes until you 'can't take it' but it feels like hours.

"Bruce? Are you really doing this?" You ask, a bit confused.

"Yes."

"Ok, blunt." You swallow, trying to muster some resilience. "Um, will you talk to me if I don't tell you?" You ask.

"No."

"You just did!" You smile, starting to laugh but it peters out until there's nothing as he stays silent. "Bruce? Please just forget it. It's nothing. Nothing important." You plead, not wanting to go into your past until you had to. Until there is no other choice but to.

"If it made you cry, it's important." He reassured.

"Thanks but please, I'll tell you when I get back." You compromise, knowing there was no other way out of it. He hesitated but hearing your pleas for the second time broke whatever resolve he had mustered.

"Ok, I'll see you at home, the Tower I mean." He stumbled over his words, cursing his own mouth.

"What did you even call about?" You asked, glad to move on.

"I heard you were coming back so I just wanted to confirm." Bruce covered up as you felt your spirits dampen.

"Just for that?" You ask, trying to keep your voice light.

"Yeah."

"Oh ok, I was just hoping that maybe I could confirm something as well?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you really mean what you said in the last phone call?" You ask and the line goes silent. You bite your lip nervously, wondering if he had just made a mistake or if he had ended the call. No rational thought could deter you from these thoughts until he responded. And respond he did, about 5 minutes later.

"What did I say?" He asked and you tried not to shout. It was obvious he had made a mistake and didn't mean what he'd said.

"That, I was the girlfriend you would pay attention to?" You spoke, making it sound like a question. You cursed yourself but just waited for his answer, tapping your fingers on the bed.

"What would you do if I told you I did?" He asked just as nervously and you tried to keep a huge smile from enveloping your face.

"I would…" You trail off, thinking how you would react. What would you do? "Ask if it was what you wanted despite what you felt." You say, remembering Jason's advice.

"I don't know." He answered without the hypothetical device guard to protect them both. "I don't trust myself to be able to handle it. Not to mention the Other Guy." He told you honestly and you nod to yourself. It was exactly what you knew he was like despite his feelings. He would always deprive himself if he thought it was the best thing to do for everyone. "Are you ok with that?" He asked and you took a breath, trying to compose your thoughts.

"I think I knew that this would be your answer but it doesn't make it any easier." You spoke honestly, knowing it was the best thing to do despite how much it hurt you and him to say it. "But I also think that I respect your opinion and that we aren't on the same levels. So I will wait or try to move on if you want me to." You swallow, nodding along to your answer, trying to convince yourself it was the right thing to do. But then there was silence on the other side of the line and you knew he was trying to deal with the consequences of his decisions. It was what he always did but normally, you were there to help him. You were there to comfort him and tell him it was ok but this time, you couldn't. Not only because of the distance, but because you were part of what he had to deal with. Being there wouldn't do a thing to help him digest the consequences, just want to break them like rules.

"Thank you." He told her sincerely, but with regret echoing in his voice. "See you at the Tower. Good luck on the case." Bruce finished, regretting the chance he had to make his well-wishing mean something more than just friends. If they were even that. He didn't know anymore, their relationship had been flipped on its head a million times and broken in every way possible and now his only chance at redemption and moving forwards had just slipped from his hands. Again. And he had no one to blame but himself.

"Thanks, bye Bruce." You finished, ending the call. You kept the phone against your ear for a moment afterwards before placing it on your chest and thinking over what you just did. A small sense of regret started to flower in your heart but you dismissed it, trying to convince yourself it was the right thing to do. You forgot how long you lay there, just digesting the news before getting up with a stiff body and trying to shake it all out.

You picked up a pen and started to write on a piece of paper all that you had to do, including decisions to make about becoming one of the Avengers. You included all of the shameful pros and cons such as being able to stare at Bruce and maybe being able to save him every once in a while. No one could see you, you reasoned. Plus, you were living in a house with Liv, for you that was enough reason in itself to justify your reasons.

You wrote down any and all reasons that came to your mind that someone could want Wanda out of the country or put in prison and wrote long paragraphs of counter arguments to respond with. You wrote down what to do when you met up with your Mum again after such a long time with little to no communication and thought of nothing so decided to leave that one to discuss with Liv.

Once you had everything sorted, you looked at the time and saw it was 3:00, prompting you to get up quickly to put some summer sandals on. Also to change into some summer worthy clothing before walking down to find Wanda to pick up Harry from school. "Wanda? Wanda!" You shouted all around the house and she came rushing down the stairs, her long brown hair flowing behind her.

"Yeah?" She asked worriedly.

"Harry. School." You say with a smirk, knowing she had forgotten all about it.

"Oh God," She breathed quickly before rushing back up the stairs. "Give me 5 minutes!" She yelled.

"Ok!" You called back, waiting by the door and she came thundering down the stairs again and still putting on a sandal and hopped the last few steps. "Ready?" You asked with a laugh and took a breath afterwards. You couldn't deny it felt like years since you had laughed at something that wasn't a crush and it felt so liberating. You breathed it all out and walked towards the door with Wanda nodding and hopping after you.

"Let's go." You tell her, opening the door for her to go through first. You were more of a gentleman than any of the men you had met. Apart from Bruce. And Steve. Plus, Clint wasn't that bad you reasoned and then cursed your inner voice for having to contradict everything you thought. "Liv, we're going to get Harry from school!" You shouted, directing your voice up the stairs.

"Ok! Thanks!" She shouted back and you smiled, walking out after Wanda who had used the spare time to get her sandals properly on.

"I'm ready don't worry." She told you, seeing your raised brow as she stood tall. You gave her another look and she laughed, tapping your arm.

"Oi! That hurt!" You defend childishly.

"Well, I learnt from the best." Wanda retorted just as childishly, both of you pouting for a moment before bursting out laughing. "We are just as bad as children." She laughed, shaking her head.

"So what? It is better than being as boring as grannies." You shrug, nudging the mutant. "At least we're interesting." She added, laughing again.

"I am like when I was a child. With Pietro and Mama." She reminisced, her eyes looking faraway for a moment before snapping out of it. You watch sadly and move over to give her a hug despite the heat.

"I never grew up from a child." You whisper, letting her rest on your shoulder for a moment before she pulled away with a smile.

"Thank you. Thank you for everything. Not just Pietro, but giving me a family." She told you seriously before nudging you. "And for being the object of drama in my life." She added with a laugh.

"Wow!" You say sarcastically. "You know, I was actually feeling gratitude for a moment there!" You say, laughing with her. "You're welcome anyway." You roll your eyes, both of you still walking to Harry's school. The rest of the walk is calm and funny, both of you trying to look indiscreet when someone seemed to recognise you and pointing out weird fashion sense. You also eavesdropped on conversations, picking up random lines and dramatising every word, mainly just having fun as you walked before sitting down on a bench, waiting for Harry's class to come out.

10


	16. Book 2: Chapter 3

Bruce Confession Short Story P16:

"Wow!" You say sarcastically. "You know, I was actually feeling gratitude for a moment there!" You say, laughing with her. "You're welcome anyway." You roll your eyes, both of you still walking to Harry's school. The rest of the walk is calm and funny, both of you trying to look indiscreet when someone seemed to recognise you and pointing out weird fashion sense. You also eavesdropped on conversations, picking up random lines and dramatising every word, mainly just having fun as you walked before sitting down on a bench, waiting for Harry's class to come out.

"I could do something with your hair, it looks nice but I think I can make it better." Wanda told you, playing with it. You had left it out, not having any other hairstyle to do. You couldn't think of anything interesting to do with it.

"How?" You ask cautiously, raising a brow at her.

"You don't trust me?" She asks, pretending to be offended.

"I don't trust anyone." You reply honestly.

"Apart from Bruce." She counters and you roll your eyes.

"He's the one that doesn't trust himself." You tell her, remembering you conversation earlier. Wanda watches you, silent for a moment before sighing.

"Ok, what happened?" She asks, styling your hair.

"What are you talking about?" You retort, trying to be normal.

"Something obviously happened, you wouldn't say that otherwise." She deduces, folding her arms and using her powers to carry on styling it better than she could with her hands.

"We just told each other we weren't in good places to be dating. That's all." You try to dismiss, swallowing slightly as you turn back away from her and your hair drops along with Wanda's jaw.

"That's all? When did this happen?" Wanda asked, forgetting about your hair.

"A few hours ago?" You try to predict, thinking back to the time.

"Hours?" Wanda screeches and you reel away, trying to protect your ears.

"Geez, you're turning into Liv." You mutter, bringing your hair back around your neck.

"This happened hours ago and you didn't tell me?" She asked, ignoring your remark.

"Well, I kind of knew it would happen. It wasn't a surprise or anything." You try to defend, shrugging it off.

"How did you know?" Wanda asked, softening at your demeanour. You had given up, you had resigned yourself to that fact and weren't willing to fight for it and honestly, Wanda didn't blame you. You'd faced so much and was just starting to get your life back together, even helping her with hers as well and Bruce had been given so many chances but he'd just let them go. Wanda pursed her lips as you shrugged, just knowing Bruce too well and knew he wouldn't go for a relationship. She didn't like your resignation and gave you a hug, pitying you as you laughed, trying to hide how you weren't completely fine with what had happened but the more you talked about it, the harder it would be to hide it.

"You need to let this go." You tell Wanda jokingly as she squeezes you, overestimating how much you were hurting from the mutual rejection. You knew you were hurting but the fact that you knew how he was going to react, almost... softened the blow. Not completely but you still didn't think it affected you as much as it should have. You didn't break down crying, for once, you thought to yourself.

You didn't shout at Bruce for his decision, you didn't immediately hang up or anything. Considering everything, you thought you reacted pretty well. Just absorbing the situation and thinking about how it was going to work when you got back to the Tower or anything else about the technicalities of the situation got you sweating a little and your throat closing up. That was all.

"No (Y/N), you need to let this go." Wanda corrected, pulling away to look at you in the eyes. "You need to accept what happened and if you don't like it, change it. You are in denial. Let it go." She told her firmly, trying to comfort her as best as she could.

"But I haven't even wallowed yet." You pretend to moan, joking but when you see Wanda's look of disapproval, you relent. "Fine." You sigh, hanging your head. "I'll be a horrible person to Bruce until he goes out with me." You nodded, getting up. You really didn't want to talk about it any longer and making jokes was your only coping mechanism.

"You can't run from it (Y/N)!" Wanda called out as you walked into the playground.

"Way to sound ominous!" You shout back, seeing Harry coming out and pointing you out to the teacher. "Harry!" You shout happily, holding out your arms as he ran into them and you transformed into the best Auntie. No one else. You didn't have relationship problems, even though you had no relationship to have problems with, you didn't a past to battle. You didn't have any other task apart from looking after Harry and that meant taking him home safely.

"(Y/N)!" He yelled back as you picked him up with a smile, spinning him around for a few moments before setting him back down and taking his hand to walk home with. Wanda came over and said hello to Harry as well, giving him another hug when you heard someone call out.

"Miss! Miss!" Harry's teacher called behind you. You turned around and she rushed to you as quickly as she could in heels with a bag in hand. "Harry forgot his bookbag." She told you politely as you smiled at her, taking the bag. You also noted she had an accent that was familiar but it was fading.

"Oh thank you." You smiled graciously, giving the bag to Harry who was currently being mock scolded by Wanda and you were about to set off again when the teacher spoke again.

"Um, sorry to bother you but are you (Y/N) (L/N)?" She asked, somewhat timidly. You looked at her, dumbfounded for a moment before you nodded, shouting at yourself to speak along with the nods.

"Yes, sorry. Is there something else?" You ask, desperate to get away. You knew exactly how she knew your name and didn't want to deal with it. You looked at Wanda quickly but she just shrugged, showing you her point about not being able to run from it.

"Not about Harry but I would just like to say thank you." She told you as you tried not to be rude but every fibre of your being just wanted to ask,

"What?" Sadly, your impulse not to be rude failed and you did ask.

"I am from Sokovia. You saved my family there. The ones on the news, they were my cousins and nieces and my Mum's sister. She fled Sokovia when she thought she had a chance to make it here and became a legal immigrant and I grew up here." She explained, obviously trying to fill in the gaps, talking about an uncomfortable subject and you placed a comforting hand on hers to stop her as you nodded. "I was so worried when I saw what happened and hoped with everything I had that they would be alright. Luckily, they had a guardian angel looking after them." She smiled, gesturing to you as you tried to digest the information and laughed a little at the compliment. You were anything but a guardian angel but you nodded your thanks anyway.

"I am not a guardian angel, I was just doing what I could but thank you and I am glad they are safe." You say, letting out a breath. You blew it way out of proportion. You thought she was some reporter in disguise or something.

"Would it be possible to get a photo to show my mother and family?" She asked shyly and you looked at Wanda with wide eyes, glad she hadn't done anything to your hair. That was a lie, you were instantly beginning to hope she could do something with your hair right now to make yourself look the slightest bit better but let it go and just nodded with a smile as she pulled out a phone. She angled the phone so it would fit both of them in when she saw Wanda. "Oh my goodness, you are the Scarlet Witch aren't you?" She asked Wanda whose own eyes widened at this and you smirked, pulling her into the picture.

"Yes she is and she would love to take a picture with you." You told the teacher out of revenge and Wanda gave you a glare that you relished, both of you only putting on smiles in time for the picture and the teacher showed it to you before smiling.

"Thank you so much, my mother will be so grateful." She told them, rushing back to her job and you waved with a laugh.

"You looked horrible. No wait, you always look horrible." Wanda told you in annoyance, storming ahead with Harry trailing behind, only keeping up because of her hand.

"Aw, is Auntie Wanda grumpy? I think she is." You mock, talking to Harry who begun to laugh. But sadly, it only took one look from Wanda to stop his peals of laughter. "Don't ruin the kid's fun!" You protest, going up to her. She refused to look at you and you laughed before giving her a huge hug. She squirmed in your arms but you secured them, not letting her move as you both stood still on the side of the road. A lady wanted to pass and you only squished up against Wanda until there was space enough for her move. Wanda sighed, hugging you back before letting go quickly.

"Ok, now let go. It's too hot for this." She told you as you peeled yourself off of her.

"Aw, is Auntie Wanda complimenting me?" You asked, mocking her again and she actually laughed this time.

"Never, I maintain that you would look better if I did your hair." She retorted, finally joining in the fun.

"How would you do that?" Harry asked, wanting to join in the conversation now his arm wasn't being pulled from its socket. "With magic?" He asked excitedly, convinced her powers were magic and she had trained at Hogwarts. Wanda hadn't disagreed, wanting to believe that instead of wondering for a long time where they did come from. In fact, she had encouraged it. She had said the spells and did what had done with magic, like turning the lights on and off. She had tried Crucio on Jason and he had just let out the worst whimper ever and everyone had burst out laughing instead. You just covered it up by saying she had to mean it and she didn't actually want to hurt him.

"Not everything has to be done with magic Harry. We have hands for a reason." You say, trying not to make him rely too much on magic or become too attached to it otherwise when Wanda left, he wouldn't be too happy.

"I know but she can use her magic to make things easier." Harry protested as you laughed giving him a quick side hug so he knew you were just joking and weren't actually angry or being stern.

"It's ok, I know you like Auntie Wanda's magic." You smile, opening the door for them. You walk back in and almost collapse on the sofa while Wanda takes Harry upstairs to his parents and change him out of the school clothes as you ponder over Wanda's words and mainly just rest after your day. You fall asleep, resting against the pillows when Liv and Wanda come in about to cook dinner. When they see you, they look at each other with a sigh, knowing that they would do anything to help you get your life back on track but you would probably not appreciate it. Or just not share the same views.

They made dinner together, both debating on the best way to try and help you despite your own refusal of their plans. They guessed you probably wouldn't like it if they tried to get you together with Bruce. They also guessed that you probably wouldn't like it if they tried to get you to become an Avenger, or go back to Manhattan. Wanda told Liv what you had told her and they ate dinner with heavy hearts, glancing over at your sleeping body every now and then. "It's going to hit her hard." Liv whispered, terrified of how badly it was going to hurt.

"She didn't seem too bad when she told me." Wanda whispered back, looking at Liv's worried face.

"She was probably in shock. Trust me, I know her. Probably better than she knows herself. This is her coping mechanism. Later, probably at night, she'll be crying. She won't ever show it, but she'll be hurting." Liv looked away, trying to hold back her own tears. Wanda watched her and placed a hand on her arm, trying to comfort her.

"We need to do something." She told her, trying to get Liv to focus.

"I can't think of anything. I never could in these situations. I've been such a bad sister." Liv whispered, her voice barely audible as she let a tear slip down her face. The moment it did, she wiped it away getting up and taking her empty plate of pasta to the kitchen where she put it in the sink, walking up to her room. Wanda watched her sadly, trying to think of anything to do. She followed but stopped outside the door when she heard Jason's voice consoling Liv's sobs.

You woke up, looking around and it took a few minutes to remember what had happened. You stayed sitting there, not wanting to get up until she heard footsteps and looked around, wondering if you could possibly run out of the room or not. Seeing no way out, you sat back down and closed your eyes, focusing on making your breathing nice and slow so whoever it was would think you were still asleep and heard Wanda's voice sighing and using her powers to pick you up.

Part of you was freaking out and wanted to move but part of you was too tired to even try and struggle. You felt the stairs so close as you skimmed them, floating upwards to your room. You felt yourself being lowered onto soft sheets and your head hit the soft pillow and you let out a small breath of relief.

As you decided to sleep some more, you heard the doorbell ringing and resisted every urge to get up and open the door. You heard Wanda walk out of the room and go to open it and waited until you heard the footsteps fade on the door before deeming it safe enough to open your eyes and get up. You heard Liv and Jason walk down the stairs as well and waited a few moments more. It was a little regretfully that you emerged from the warm sheets, and creep around the corner to look down the stairs and look to see who it was.

You couldn't see anyone and crept a few steps down to try and see something but still, saw nothing. You crept even further down until you were practically in the room and saw your Mum. It shocked you to see your mother and Liv sitting in the same room, all your family together. It brought a tear to your eye as you watched them hug and interact with each other.

"Mum." You whisper, longing to say hello but not wanting to at the same time. You couldn't confront her, you just couldn't. You ran back up to your room, crying into the sheets, heartache killing you. They all heard the thundering footsteps and hesitantly knocked on the door, entering slowly to see you asleep, fully clothed on tear stained sheets.

They left with a sigh, not wanting to disturb you but you felt someone stay, slowly comforting you as they lightly brushed hair out of your face. You couldn't deny it did comfort you, but the mere gesture solidified the theory of who it was. You knew that gesture anywhere, it was your Mum. She always did that to comfort you, she knew it was what helped. A tear slipped from your eye onto your nose, falling onto the pillow as you tried to keep quiet. You felt yourself slipping off into sleep and didn't fight it, glad to have some escape. You lost all the will to wake up but your general sleeping pattern wouldn't let you sleep forever.

When you woke up, it was the middle of the night. Your mother had fallen asleep on the edge of your bed. You took the chance to get a good look at her, taking in the now short cut hair, a small bob and the peaceful look on her face. Her eyelashes fluttered and you froze, hoping she wouldn't wake up. Her eye bags had lessened from your childhood and there were no bruises on her face. You gently eased yourself out of the bed around her, trying not to wake her. You walked down to the kitchen and sat down on the chair, trying to process everything that had happened. You sighed, seeing your phone on the table and debating on whether to use it before giving in.

You scrolled through the contacts and hovered over Tony's picture before pressing it and turning down the dialling tone so it wasn't so loud. You waited and then heard him pick up. "(Y/N)? Why are you calling me at 10:00 at night?" He asked groggily and you almost wavered before speaking.

"Tony, I want to come back. I want to come back now. Forget the other ticket, I'll pack now. Just get me back home. Please?" You ask, pleading him as he wakes himself up.

"Wait, what the hell? A few hours ago you were all "I guess I have to." And now, you want to come back. What happened?" Tony replies, dismissing your request. You don't reply and he carries on. "(Y/N), talk to me." He spoke up, breaking the silence in which your mood grew.

"My Mum's back." You say simply, not able to contain it. "She's back and I have no idea what to do." You say, lying your head on your arm, trying to get into a comfortable position.

"Is this something to do with your past?" He asks, concern evident in his voice.

"Yeah, so let me come back please." You say, not wanting to be there when morning came and you would be stuck with your family, no cover of sleep to protect you.

"Look, (Y/N). I have no idea what your life was like before us. Probably shi-"

"Take Mushrooms." You finish, not wanting anything to be used to describe your past because it was so much worse than any swear word but you still couldn't bear it when someone even talked about it.

"Yeah whatever. But if I got the chance to talk to my mother again, I wouldn't waste it. Sure, you can go back when you're ready but she might be gone by then. Some things you're never ready for. But you can still damn try." He finished with his pep talk, not wanting you to come back any quicker than you had to on account of a promise he'd made to not only himself, but everyone else, including your family, to protect you for as long as he could.

"You really think I can face my past?" You ask, needing the compliments. But knowing Tony, he would just use logic.

"Well, you were ready to a few hours ago." He told you and you sigh, knowing he was right but not totally convinced. "And you're strong. You can, I know it, and everyone else does. It's only you that doesn't." He added, complimenting you like you'd wanted him to. It was shallow and not like your usual self, but this wasn't a usual situation and you didn't have your usual confidence.

"Really?" You ask, still not believing it yourself.

"Are you really asking me to repeat that?" Tony asked incredulously and you laugh. "You heard. Now it's your choice if you want to believe." He finished, leaving you in silence. "Oh, and if you need any more confidence boosting, just listen to Bruce describing what he thinks about you." He tells you, ending the call and you furrow your brows, looking at the screen and seeing a sound file pop up on the screen. You chose to accept it and watched as it began to download, wondering what it could contain.

"(Y/N). My little baby, why are you awake?" A voice asked and you looked up to see your mother standing there, obviously sleepy.

"Jen, uh. Mum." You say, the name throwing you off. You glance back down at your phone and take a deep breath, remembering Tony's words. "I was just having some wine." You make up, walking into the kitchen. "You want some?" You ask, pretending to be a normal daughter, talking with her mother who she hadn't seen in years. So normal, you berate yourself. You try to shake the thoughts out of your head, telling yourself not to be so pessimistic but part of you cannot stop, all of your thoughts building up in your head.

"Yes of course." She replies and you begin to get it just like she always used to. You are lost in your own world as you move from side to side in the small kitchen, getting the cork opener and glasses etc. You finish your usual routine and look around, pouring her and yourself a glass of wine.

"Here you go." You say, handing Jen the glass. You sat down opposite and watched her sipping at her wine, taking a huge sip before looking away. You barely spared a glance at her, feeling awkward.

"Thank you (Y/N)." She smiled and you nodded, trying not to be too talkative. For one thing, you had no idea what to talk about. You just sat there, thinking about what Tony had said, trying to actually be strong like he'd said.

"Do you normally do this?" Jen asked, getting your attention. "Drink wine in the middle of the night?" She elaborates and you look down at your glass, realising how bad it must look before a defensive wall of fire rose up inside you. You always had to answer to her questions, admitting everything. Well maybe, it was time for that to change. A little rebellion, you mused with a smirk.

"Not all the time. Just when the pain get really bad. And by pain, I mean memories." You say through gritted teeth, anger obvious in your words. They hit Jen hard and you see her taking a large sip of her wine to calm herself.

"Darling, is that what were you crying about last night?" She asked, full of so much concern, it threw you on edge.

"No, not that." You say and she looks at you, prompting you to go on. "It's nothing much. Just had a rough few days with work." You lie, hoping that it sounded normal and believable.

"I thought you had gotten days off?" She asked, acting like a normal Mum and you had to stuff the emotion rising in your throat.

"Yeah, but working for SHIELD means there is no such thing as a day off." You say, still defensive despite Tony's words ringing in your head. Sure, you wanted to talk to her, but every time you tried, the anger would bubble up inside you and you would get angrier and angrier.

"So, why were you really crying?" She asked after a moment of silence and your eyes widened in mock shock which you tried to hide by downing your entire glass. "(Y/N)." She spoke warningly.

"No reason." You say nonchalantly, not being able to think of anything.

"Really?" She asks and you look up in confusion. "Because I heard about a certain friend who is becoming more than a friend who also has a few anger problems." She told you, shocking you so much, you almost spit out your wine.

"What, Bruce?" You clarify, coughing.

"So you do know who I'm talking about." Jen smirked and you look away, not being able to deal with this as well.

"I'm just asking. There's a lot of people I know with anger issues." You hint, trying to make her feel guilty again. It worked and you saw her sigh, taking a deep breath.

"I know you're angry with me. I know you still hate me for your childhood but I am still your Mum. I am still here and I still want to be a part of your life." She spoke, putting her glass to the side as she spoke to you properly.

"Really? So where were you for the past 7 years?" You asked angrily, all pretence gone. "Where were you when I was fighting the hardest case of my life? Where were you when Dad found us again and I went to America? Where were you when Liv got married and had two beautiful children?" You finished, breathing heavily as you barely managed not to completely flip out.

"That was not my choice, I couldn't be there. But-" Jen tried to amend but was cut off by your anger.

"But what? You couldn't? You were too busy getting another idiot of a boyfriend and having more children?" You ask, showing no mercy on your 'mother'. "I honestly wouldn't be surprised." You finish, glaring at her as you grip your wine glass.

"I didn't have any more children, I have no boyfriend. All I thought about through those years was you and Liv. I wanted to come back but I couldn't." She tried to explain, but was cut off by your scoffing.

"Of course you couldn't." You sigh, more void of hope than angry at this point. "You never could. You could never help us. Or even be there. It was just us alone. Me and Liv. That was all we had until we built ourselves more. Without you." You say, stressing the words before getting up and taking the bottle with you to your room. It wasn't hard to drink away the night as thought about what happened. You tried to be quiet as you saw Wanda but inevitably ended up waking her up as well when the bottle clinked with the glass too many times. That, and your drunken mumbling mixed with sobbing, it didn't take too long.

"(Y/N)?" Wanda asked, lifting her head as she saw you just pouring another glass. "Are you ok?" She asked, getting out of the bed. She shivered slightly as she moved to bring the duvet with her, too cold to go without.

"Fine." You replied, trying to control your drunken slur as she wiped your tears quickly. Wanda turned on the light, walking over and seeing your state.

"(Y/N)… What happened?" She asked rushing over.

"Nothing." You reply, although it was obvious you were on the brink of tears. Wanda doesn't reply, going over and hugging you, wrapping her in both of the duvets while using her powers to take away the bottle as you finished the glass.

"Just go to sleep." Wanda told you, calming you with her powers, a red hue circling around your drunken, dazed head. As you drifted off, you dreamed of what would've happened if you had a normal childhood. What would have been a normal and fanciful notion for others turned into a nightmare for you and you woke up with a short scream. You had dreamed being in front of the Hulk but he didn't recognise you because you had not gone down the path of events that led you to meeting Fury and getting that job. As a result of him not recognising you, he had crushed you into the wall and you could almost feel all of your bones break.

You opened your eyes to see the daylight streaming through the windows and the room empty. Even with your scream, no one came and you deduced that they were probably out for some reason. You managed to drag yourself out of bed, falling to the floor and breathing heavily as you tried to clear the blurring lines between fantasy and reality. After a while, you got up, your whole body heavy with sleep. You did the bed and cleaned up, still in your pyjamas and with your messy hair. You then walked to the bathroom and saw one of the reasons you felt so bad. You had your period. The last one had been during the battle of Ultron and during your time in the hospital where James had helped you by stealing pads.

After dealing with it, you walked out, making yourself presentable but trying to be calm enough to get on with the day. It had been a long time since you had drunkenly cried yourself to sleep, the last one being discovered by Bruce. That last one had solidified your friendship when Bruce had realised you were just as problematic as him and just like him, you both didn't want to talk about it. He had respected your decision, just like you had his as well but unlike him, you had no urgent need to talk about it. You weren't someone who easily broke down your walls, you'd been building them up all your life. You had no urgent need to talk about your past while you could find yourself in a new life where pretending was so much easier.

So you just forgot it, pretending your life was different from what it really was. Pretending that it was all a fantasy because honestly, when you lived with the Avengers, dreams and nightmares weren't that hard to differentiate between sometimes. You sat down with a hot chocolate to ease the pain as you skipped breakfast, looking at your phone and curling up in the blanket. You were drifting off when your phone rang and you heard the drumming of your ringtone filling the air. It shook you out of your drifting and you put the mug down quickly to accept the phone call. "Hello?" You asked, not bothering to check who it was.

"Hey (Y/N), are you alright?" Bruce asked and you immediately curse yourself for picking up. You didn't know if he had known that you had been sent some audio that Tony had dubbed as him describing his 'feelings' about her. You also didn't know if he expected you to have listened to it. You were completely unprepared for this and didn't know how to respond at all. So you just pretended.

"No?" You replied, your previous plan of a millisecond gone out of the window.

"What happened?" He asked, concern laced in his voice.

"Well, I don't know if Tony told you but my Mum's back. And Tony's encouragement had no effect because I completely messed up." You say, moving away from all the other ideas you had thought, hoping to avoid everything like you always did. "I freaked out on her and drunk myself to sleep. With alcohol." You stressed, giving him a proper idea of what had happened.

He knew that you hadn't done that for ages and you'd in return stopped him from doing the same although you had gone away for the weekends and come back to find him on the floor with 5 bottles and shreds of a purple shirt lying on the floor. You were each other's support systems and now, you were talking to him just like that. You were talking like friends again and you didn't know if it was good or bad but it was true that you did like the communication.

"So it didn't go well?" Bruce summarised, making you laugh.

"You could say that." You reply, still laughing. It was nice, to talk like that again. For the first time in what felt like ages, you could talk to him properly and not be scared of being awkward. You had no proper idea what had changed, but you were glad it had.

"So what went wrong?" Bruce asked, trying to simplify things. It was obvious you didn't want to disclose any information about your past and he wasn't going to force you.

"I don't know. I just feel like every time I see her, she's betrayed me and I get so angry. I just can't help it. The most I can do to control it is be a little gentler and hiss instead." You say, rolling your eyes. You weren't giving him many clues but he had picked up on certain things in the rare times you actually talked about your past.

"So when you see her, it's uncontrollable?" He asked, musing over it and you nodded even though he couldn't see you. "Just try to calm down. All those times you told me of her jumping out behind doors and Liv and Jason, think of those times. Think of them and how much they want you to be civil at most. You don't have to love her. Not yet, you don't have to accept her back into your life, just be able to be in the same room and hold a conversation with her. Then you can come back to the Tower and you don't have to." He compromised, calming you as you sank into the pillows more. "But I'm hoping you won't have to pretend at that point." He added, making you involuntarily snort with laughter.

"Don't hold your breath." You warned, thinking back to last night. Or the early hours of that morning. You really had no idea when you stopped drinking. "You didn't see how much I held back. It wasn't much." You tell him, groaning to yourself as you realised how bad the conversation went. "I don't think it could've gone any worse." You tell him, needing an outlet.

"At least she didn't walk away then. You still have a chance to make up for it." Bruce pointed out as you hummed in agreement before looking around.

"Actually, I have no idea. I woke up and everyone was gone. The house was empty. Everyone is gone, even Mariana." Concern begins to fill you as you look around.

"Well what's the time?" Bruce asks, trying to calm the situation. He hated that he couldn't be there to comfort you himself and be with you to help but he would turn into the Hulk before he gave up the opportunity to help you over the phone.

"Um… about 10:00." You say, taking the phone away from your ear to check the time.

"They could've easily just gone out for a breakfast together, or dropped Harry off. It might not be as bad as you think. Just relax and wait. Call me back if you get really worried." Bruce told you, being calm and rational as always. This whole event, including the phone call felt like it belonged further behind her in her timeline. It felt like something that would've happened before Spain and Ultron.

The way you were before your feelings got in the way. You wondered if when you got back, you might be able to tap him on the arm and do experiments just like you used to or would it be too weird? You hoped you could, that at least you might be allowed that small privilege. To be friends again and be given the opportunity to live in peace with each other, even as friends. That whole train of thought was the reason you risked it to say your next two sentences.

"Thanks Bruce. You're a really good friend." You smile genuinely, feeling a lot better after he'd given you his advice like always. You didn't feel so good saying 'friend' but it was necessary for you to have a good friendship and move on from these feelings you had for him.

"You sounded like you needed one." Bruce replied just as genuinely but with a hint of dismay. You didn't know if you had imagined it but you felt like he was little disheartened by your label of him.

You could sense the conversation was ending so you managed to get in a small, "Bye." Before he got off the line. You slowly put the phone down and looked at your home screen, a background of a flower blossoming and lines emerging from it. It was obviously fake and CGI but it was beautiful and you didn't want to put a photo of the most 'important' thing in your life on it because you could never decide. It always made you feel guilty to think about what to put as your most important event or person because you had so many. Or just a few that you loved equally.

But you could barely think about that as you stared at the pixelated image. You were just thinking about Bruce's reply to your friend comment. It sounded like he didn't like the term you'd used and it also seemed like he wanted to become more. It also sounded like he was waiting on you to change the friend and you were going to reply to that with a 'hell no'. If he wanted something more, he had to make that happen. You couldn't read minds and he was the one who'd rejected the idea in the first place and you weren't going to chase after him.

No, when he was ready, he could chase after you if he wanted. But if you asked yourself what your reply would be, a yes just popped up in your mind before anything else. Part of you chastised yourself for giving in so easily but this was something you wanted as well. Your mind was going crazy with 'what if's' and wondering about certain things. If not for the notification of a text coming from Liv telling you that they were coming home, you might have just carried on going crazy.

When you saw the text, you immediately got up to clean up, putting your mug in the sink and making everything look tidy. You got to yours and Wanda's room and decided to leave Wanda's side of the room, letting her do with it what she wanted. You cleaned up and packed most of your clothes neatly away in your suitcase. As you did, you found the list you'd made a few night ago when you and Bruce had 'decided' to stay friends after revealing you loved each other. That was tumultuous night. It was nice to know that you hadn't been rejected because he didn't think of you that way, but then again, being rejected twice wasn't the greatest either.

You saw the decision of maybe being an Avenger and looked at where you were. Fury had made a bargain and honestly, you didn't think that refusing his offer would be the best way to repay him. You also knew that if you became an Avenger, you probably wouldn't be able to handle it so you stared at the pros and cons, weighing it out in your mind before coming to a decision. You scribbled it down in the small Answer boxes you'd made for every problem you'd written down.

You looked at the case for Wanda and moved on, knowing that you would be able to do it when the time came. You then looked at the next one and saw the plan for what to do when you met your Mum again and scoffed at that, shredding the piece of paper with scissors and dumping the confetti in the bin. You wrote out a new one, listing aesthetics to focus on when you talked to her, hoping to make it through the rest of the 5 days you had before you could escape.

You gave up on that when you reached 5, not able to think of any more and decided to label them all for different days, focusing on one for every day. Then you moved onto the Bruce 'problem' and shred the sheet almost immediately, having no answer. You had no idea whether it was a problem or a solution at this moment and didn't want to deal with it. You were good at that, ignoring your problems and not dealing with them. The only way you coped was to write them down and list them, ticking them off like a 'To do list'. It put things into a much simpler format and you could list your points and come to quicker and easier conclusions.

But with Bruce, you had no idea any more. Maybe absence made the heart grow fonder for some, but for you at this moment, it just made it more confused. You heard the door open down the stairs and closed your eyes, blowing out a breath and putting on your cast. You didn't put it on before, being able to walk well enough with just bandages. You knew your next item on the 'To do list'.

 **Review: Thank you so much guest reader, I loved your review and it totally gave me energy to finish my day and brightened it up so much. I had a great day because of you and your lovely compliments. Thank you so much. P.S. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. This was mainly just me clearing up everything and trying to set a plan into action for where this fic is going to go. Thanks for reading :).**

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	17. Book 2: Chapter 4

Bruce Confession Short Story P17:

But with Bruce, you had no idea any more. Maybe absence made the heart grow fonder for some, but for you at this moment, it just made it more confused. You heard the door open down the stairs and closed your eyes, blowing out a breath and putting on your cast. You didn't put it on before, being able to walk well enough with just bandages. You knew your next item on the 'To do list'.

"Liv? Did you call the hospital yet?" You ask, looking at her as she re-entered the room and put her phone away.

"Yeah, you have an appointment for tomorrow." Liv confirmed and you nodded, blowing out a breath as you looked at your foot. "(Y/N), can you tell me what's going on? You shout at Mum, I get that but you drink yourself to sleep. You want me to call the hospital to get your cast off and then you pretend that everything's fine." Liv asked with worry as she came over and sat down next to you. "You're acting like you're leaving tomorrow." She told her, a miserable look on her face as she looked down. You took a breath and took her hands in yours and looked at her sincerely.

"I am. In 5 days." You confirm and she looks up quickly, about to speak. "But it's not because of you. Or Mum." You add, the words making your throat clog up with emotion again as you closed your eyes, trying to battle it. "I just have to go. It's my job. SHIELD needs me." You tell her as you watch her carefully process the information.

"What is it? Does Wanda need to go as well?" She asked, a flurry of questions dropping from her mouth.

"Liv, Liv. It's just me. I just need to go and I can't tell you why." You calm her down as tears start to fill up in her eyes.

"Why? Why bother keeping secrets now? We all know about SHIELD, we won't tell anyone. Just help us understand here. Help me." She pleaded, taking her hands out of yours as you felt your sister slipping away again.

"I can't." You whisper, getting emotional again.

"Please." She whispered back as you battled tears of your own.

"If you know, then I have to tell everyone. I can't put you in that sort of danger." You finish, pulling yourself together to keep quiet. Wanda could already read minds and even if she didn't mean to, even if it was just a joke, you could tell this would plague Liv for so many reasons. If Wanda read her mind, she would find out and you could only imagine what that would do to her.

"Ok." Liv nodded, wiping away her tears. "Ok, I understand." She agreed, thinking of her normal family life. She didn't want to uproot them or do anything to put them in danger and from the way you were talking, she had an idea that it might if she pried further.

"Thank you." You reply, smiling at your sister as you give her a hug.

"But if you think you're getting away without a goodbye party then you're severely mistaken." Liv told her from behind her as she rested her chin on your shoulder. You laughed, hugging her tighter as you smiled.

"I never expected anything less." You reply as she gets up, wiping the last of the tears from her face, walking away to organise a party. As she leaves, you breathe a sigh of relief as you let the emotion go naturally instead of forcing it out. It was a nice change from the emotional security you used to cling to like a lifeline. You liked being able to rely on others, being able to talk to them about your life and especially being able to show emotion in front of them. It was something different and for once, you embraced it instead of pushing it away.

"You've matured so much." Jen spoke from behind you as you jumped, placing a hand on your racing heart as you looked at your mother with an annoyed pout. "Sorry, I just can't help looking at you and seeing a new woman. You don't hold everything back. You don't push everyone away. You're still strong but in a more emotional way." She stated as she carefully moved over, treating you like an atomic bomb. You felt the anger rise but breathed it out, remembering Bruce and Tony's words as you looked at your mother.

"Yeah, I've changed. But this is just a recent thing. I don't know if it will stick but it wasn't how you left me and it isn't how you expected to find me is it?" You challenge, a smile on your lips instead of a glare.

"Honestly, no. I don't think the pet names will help now but I can try to accept who you are and change with you." She offered as you laughed lightly, nodding.

"I'd like that. That would be nice." You agree, both of you sitting companionably until Wanda comes in, looking for her shoes as she tried to tie her hair up as well. "You alright?" You ask as she rushed around, finding her slippers triumphantly and sliding into them.

"Yeah, just got to pick up Harry." Wanda replied as she walked out of the door.

"Do you think I should go as well?" You asked Jen, looking at her before you both dissolved into laughter.

"Nah, I don't think you need to." She replied through the laughter before they both fell back into silence.

"Will you stay this time?" You asked, looking at her curiously. "With us I mean. You can come to America, you can stay with me, or Liv. We'll give you a place until you can buy one of your own." You offer, your throat closing up.

"That would be nice," She smiled, nodding and you let a spark of hope fly up inside you. "But I'm really not sure where I'll be going right now." She told you as you felt that spark die. Part of you had really hope you could've developed a better relationship with her but you guessed that was it. No more time with her.

"Ok. That's fine." You smile, strained as you get up quickly, walking to your room. You didn't hesitate to call Bruce this time, wanting to update him on what had happened.

"(Y/N)? What's wrong?" He asked as soon as he picked up. You curled into the corner of the bed where it still smelt like alcohol and despair.

"She's going." You blurted out, knowing he would understand.

"Where?" He asked, making your throat close up. You hadn't even asked about him, how he was coping at all, you simply unloaded your situation onto him and expected help.

"I don't know. She just said she didn't know either. I just know she doesn't want a daughter who rejected her. I messed up, she's leaving. My chance is gone." You whisper frantically, worrying as you thought about what you had done.

"Hey, hey. Don't worry. It's all fine. You're just uncertain. There's nothing about this that says it was your fault." He reassured, hearing the panic in your voice.

"But what if it was?" You asked, still wondering if it was possible.

"It wasn't. I know." He told you, obviously lying, but it made you laugh a little with the ridiculousness of the statement.

"Thanks Bruce." You reply, calming down enough for him to talk.

"So what happened? Was it another argument?"

"No, we actually got along. We made peace and I actually thought we would get along but then I had to ask. I just had to and it ruined everything. She said she wasn't staying and my heart broke into a million pieces again and I couldn't take it. I practically ran upstairs and left her there and now she's not coming back." You started telling him, everything pouring out. After a few minutes, you had told him everything. From the arguments you'd had with yourself to every single though that had raced through your head when she'd told you she wasn't staying. It was liberating and honestly, you were surprised that Bruce had made it this far.

"It just sounds like you're worrying too much like always. You need to calm down." He coached, the soothing tone in his voice working wonders on your mood.

"Maybe I should go to some of your yoga classes with you." You suggest, only aware of how it sounded moments later when your eyes widened and you pressed your lips together to stop yourself from making anymore comments like that.

"Yeah, it might help." He replied calmly, a hint of amusement in his voice as you cringed, hoping he wouldn't understand anything about what it meant like you but something told you he did.

"So, when I come back? When's the next one?" You ask instantly, cursing yourself for carrying on with this.

"I'll text you the times." He told you and you pressed your lips together again as you tried not to speak.

"Ok, cool. I'll see you back home." You say, sounding like a crushing schoolgirl as you quickly hang up, hoping not to say anything else. In that moment, you felt elation like nothing else. You felt so high, so happy and so indescribable. It was something amazing and it held you higher than any grief that could pull you down. You smiled through everything for the rest of the 5 days. They seemed like infinity but when you thought of Bruce, they whittled down to nothing. You managed to get through it, all of those aesthetics useless as the main one was Bruce. Everything you needed to get through the week came in the form of a clever, dark-haired scientist with 7 PHD's.

The week passed by and you enjoyed your last night with wine and a nice dress with the help of your sister in person this time. You twirled with your wavy hair flying out around you in your sexy skin tight dress. "Whoo! You look great." Liv cheered, on her 3rd glass of wine as she lay her head back, so glad to be off babysitting duty for a few days. She'd gotten a month off to sort everything out before she had to go back to work and was glad that Wanda had agreed to look after Harry and Mariana with Jason while the others enjoyed their last night.

"Thanks lightweight." You teased, picking up your glass.

"I'm not a lightweight. You're a lightweight." Liv moaned, trying to tease you in return but not quite succeeding.

"Whatever Liv. I'm just glad I look great for no one." You laugh, flopping beside her on the sofa.

"Not for no one. For me." She smiled, leaning on your shoulder as you relaxed next to her. Jen walked in a few moments later in her own version of the dress, a bright blue one while you sported a red one. "And for her." She added as Jen poured her own glass of wine, making you both laugh.

"What are you girls talking about?" Jen asked, sitting next to Liv, all three of them sipping from their glasses.

"How great (Y/N) looks." Liv spoke up as Jen hummed in assent as you smirked. "You know what would make it better? A little bit of makeup." She told you as you groaned, leaning your head back on the pillows. "WHAT?" She asked, looking at both you and Jen in defence. "I'm just stating the obvious." She laughed, looking at you all as you started to laugh with her.

"Ok Liv, tell me how I'd look better with makeup." You challenged her as she finished her glass in preparation for the challenge.

"Why don't I show you?" She asked and you raised an eyebrow. "Oh come on, you don't trust me? You can just wipe it off afterwards and it's probably going to be another 10 years until I see you again so just let me do this for once." She persuaded as you bit your lip before agreeing and finishing your glass as well.

"Ooh, that sounds like fun. I think I'll join in." Jen smiled, doing the same and getting up. You shook your head and groaned dramatically, sliding to the ground.

"I'm so screwed." You moaned, looking up at the ceiling.

"Yep, but it's going to be fun." Jen laughed, standing above you. You raise an eyebrow in her direction, forming a friendship with the woman. "Well, fun for us." She replied as response to the eyebrow and you smiled in victory as she bent down with the makeup supply that Liv had brought into the room.

"Get up so I can put this on you." Liv ordered as you groaned again, the alcohol making you dramatic. "Actually, wait there. I'll put it on like this." She told you as you happily lay back down, glad to find an excuse to not move. You did as they told you to do, occasionally pursing your lips and moving your head from side to side and posing for pictures. You lost track of time on the floor and it seems like they did as well, trying styles and explaining how they were doing things as they applied it. It was only when you started to drop off that you remembered to check the time and see that you were about to be late for your plane.

"Guys, should I change?" You asked, looking at them both as you look down at yourself. You looked great but you didn't think it was appropriate for returning to your friends for a court case.

"No, there's no time. Just get your bags and Liv's getting Jason to drive you." Jen told you, rushing your stuff to the car as Jason walked into the room, grumbling about being woken up so quickly. You did what Jen said and packed everything into the boot as you all sat in the car. Before you could leave though, you shouted out a wait, just rushing out.

You ran up the stairs, using the keys in your bag and practically jumped into Wanda's arms. "Bye Wanda, I'm going now. Give my love to Mariana." You tell her, no other words coming to mind. She laughed kindly, wrapping her arms around you and comforting you as tears welled up in your eyes.

"Have a nice flight (Y/N). I'll see you over FaceTime yeah?" She conditioned as you nodded repeatedly, your throat blocked with a small lump causing you to simply smile.

"Stay in England Wanda." You whisper, anxiety making your breathing quicken. "You fit in here." You justify before running back down the stairs, gripping the banister tightly to make sure you don't fall in the heels. You jump back in the car and just tell them you were saying goodbye to Wanda before egging Jason on to drive as quick as he could, getting you to the airport as quickly as you could.

"Have a nice flight and call as soon as you get there!" Liv shouted as you hugged tightly, trying to think over the noise of other crying families saying goodbye to their loved ones.

"And make sure you get enough sleep!" Jen added, opening her arms for her hug. "And tell Bruce he has my permission." She whispered in your ears as you smirked, a little drunk.

"But he doesn't have mine." You whisper back, pulling away, hauling all your luggage with you as you go through the barrier. "Bye! See you soon!" You scream, waving madly as tears start to form in your eyes. They don't even try and soon enough, tears are falling down their faces as they wave back. You get to the plane and buckle yourself in, gently wiping away the few tears that had fallen, not wanting to smudge the makeup they'd so carefully applied.

After they finally landed, you had gained a lot of eyes on you and had resorted to pulling out a dressing gown to try and cover up. Tony had arranged a car to pick you up and you gladly got in, away from prying eyes. You were driven back to Stark Tower and gladly slept, your raging headache killing you. However, fate wouldn't be too kind and you arrived back at the Tower almost instantly.

You got out of the car, assuming it would be paid for by Tony and are met at the reception by the genius, billionaire, playboy and philanthropist. The second you walked in, he raised his eyebrows and let out a slow whistle at your dress. You roll your eyes but still feeling more than a little pleased at the reaction. "Wow (Y/N), glad you made an effort for me." He winked, holding out an arm for you and you smiled at him, taking it thankfully, still in the ridiculous heels.

"Shut up Tony, it's not for you. I got a bit carried away at my party." You laugh, walking through the Tower and tying the dressing gown a little tighter even though the red was still peeking through the gown.

"Ooh, who with?" He asked, making you laugh again. "But seriously, Bruce is going to go as red as that dress when he sees you." He told him, a grin on your face at the thought. "I would as well if I didn't have Pepper."

"Well it's a good thing you do then isn't it?" You reply, not having anything else to say, your cheeks going red at the compliments.

"Oh come on (Y/N)," Tony moaned when you kept tugging at your dressing gown. "A dress like that should not be hidden underneath a gown like that." He told you, the words making you think.

"What do you want me to do then? Parade around in the dress, it's not very professional." You remind him, trying not to let your ego inflate to a size where it wouldn't deflate, like Tony.

"But it's fun! You need to have some fun once in a while." He practically dared you as you glared at him for a moment before letting the gown drop into your hand, revealing your high heels and red dress. A killer combination. You let your hair down from the rough ponytail you'd made and shook it slightly to make it stand out against your red lips and dark eyelashes.

"Better?" You ask Tony who is nodding happily. He loved seeing you let loose every once in a while and was relishing the chance to make Bruce jealous of what he was missing out on and if you were honest with yourself, you liked the attention. But only when you knew you looked great, not when you didn't know why people were staring.

"Perfect." Tony grinned as you rolled your eyes, walking faster to get to the top floor. Every person you passed did at least a double take but some were much less subtle, their eyes quickly drawn to you. You took a breath to calm yourself, getting self-conscious when Tony held your hand for comfort and you smiled gratefully at him, squeezing it quickly before setting off again alone. You got to the top and all the Avengers sat in the conference room, looking around.

"Hey guys, where's the case file?" You ask, trying to ignore their stares.

"(Y/N), um." Bruce spoke, breathless as he looked at you. "Um, hi." He managed to get out as you try not to laugh. You smirk at Tony and resist the urge to grin as you smile at Bruce kindly.

"Hey, do you know where the case file is? I should get started on this if we want to win." You ask and Nat is the only not completely captivated by your beauty, although not to say she didn't notice as she winked at you, giving you the file. "Thanks." You smile, sitting down and looking through it. "So what did you hit them with?" She asked, looking up to see them still staring. Even Steve was watching, although he had the decency to keep his eyes concentrated on your face. Only Clint was absent but he walked in a moment later and let out a long whistle.

"(Y/N), wow. If I wasn't taken, you would be." He promised, winking at you as you laughed, getting up to give him a hug as he lifted you off your feet, spinning you around.

"Hey Clint, how's the family?" You ask, loving the feeling of being put down on the floor again. The heels were nice but they were very hard to stand in after losing your balance.

"They're fine. Yours?" He asked as you nodded with a sigh.

"They're fine, didn't want me to go but… duty calls." You tell him with a calming breath, trying to pull yourself together. Clint put his hand on your cheek and smiled at you. You smiled back before he put his hands on your shoulders and related to you, giving you as much support as he could. "Anyway, who fought the case?" You ask, trying not to linger on the regret of leaving home.

"Me and Bruce." Tony spoke up as you nodded, flipping through the case.

"Well there's your first problem." You point out, Tony standing over your shoulder as he tried to see what you were pointing out.

"What?" He asked, not trained in law and not wanting to be either.

"You have no solid points. Now, I can think of many so give me a spare sheet of paper and I'll just note these down. We're going back in tomorrow so we need to get this crazy file under control." You tell them, getting to work. You and Tony and Bruce slaved away all night, getting input from the others as they walked in and out of the room. Nat and Steve had volunteered to set up your room again and get you an outfit ready for the next morning. Pepper went to help them and Clint did most of the typing, being able to read chicken scratch after losing his hearing. Thor was great at listing reasons why Wanda should stay in America and why she should become part of the Avengers.

Whenever you went to make yourself another coffee, you always brought some for the others as well and made sure they at least got a few hours' sleep before the court case. But before you sent them off to bed, you pulled Bruce aside. "Bruce, answer me honestly. Who told you about me? Was it Fury? Did he tell you guys that I could handle this?" You ask, needing a proper answer. The question had been on your mind all week and you couldn't help hyperventilating slightly as you waited for his reply.

"Yeah, Fury told us that you could do it." He confirmed and the tears in your eyes were blinked back and replaced with a smile.

"Thanks." You tell him genuinely, glad you knew the truth. "Now," You address, turning around to everyone in the room. "You should all get some sleep. We need you all rested and looking pretty for the court case." You tell them confidently, clapping Tony on the back and taking his coffee and sending them all out of the room.

"What about you?" Bruce asked, turning around to be met with the door. You accidentally slammed the door a bit too hard. You didn't mean to, it was a bit much but you couldn't help it.

"I'm just… going to finish up." You call through the door, not able to control the tremor in your voice as you turn back to the file all over the tables. "JAR- FRIDAY? Please can you print everything off of the computer and save the files?" You ask, correcting yourself and stopping the memories.

"Of course Miss (L/N)." The smooth woman's voice spoke as you smile politely, once again forgetting that they were just AI's due to their personalities. You collect everything from the printer and start to compile the file properly, the packed folder giving you a little hope that you could do this. You left it on the counter and walk to your room, taking off your makeup and tight dress. You let yourself relax, dropping off on the side of the bed, not making it to the actual mattress. You were woken up by the knocking at the door and shouted for them to give you 5 minutes.

You used this to clean up the room and yourself. You thought you did pretty well given that they only gave you 3 of the requested 5 minutes. Pepper walked in, Jane and Darcy flanking her sides. They held bags and brushes and outfits. You walked out of the bathroom, drying your face on a towel and remove it to see them with a groan. You replace the towel and give them a hopeful look but they sit you down, making you beautiful again.

Pepper sorted out the outfit, ironing it while Jane brushed your hair and Darcy squealed with excitement at doing your makeup. You simply sat there in exhaustion, trying not to fall asleep and listening to Darcy's instructions. "Open your eyes… Close them… Pucker up." She commanded you from time to time, giving you specific instructions that weren't too hard but it got harder and harder to open the eyes. A few hours' sleep meant 3 for them but 2 and a half for you. It may only be 30 minutes but it made all the difference to you.

Suddenly, the voices faded and you were given a few blissful seconds of darkness before you were shocked back into the light with water. You looked at the intern who was smirking at her actions. "DARCY!" You gasped, almost screaming as Jane removed the towel from your chest. You hadn't even noticed they had put it there as she gently patted down your face.

"I wanted to see if the waterproof mascara worked." She tried to excuse, putting the glass on the table as you let out a laugh, finally awake.

"Well does it?" You ask, removing the towel as she nodded with a laugh of her own. You gave her a smile, shaking your head as you got up, stretching. "Okay, I think I'm done with this." You tell them as Jane finishes the ponytail.

"You're going to have to sit down for a few more minutes after you change." Jane warned you as you take the ironed clothes that Pepper had set out. She was debating over which accessories to choose and while you changed, they chose. You came out and Pepper gave you a fashionable belt and bracelets. Jane sat you back down and twisted your ponytail into an elegant bun, tying it up and then using a flower clip to finish it off. Darcy finished off your lips and gave you a pack of chewing gum to prepare you.

"Thanks." You smile as you walk out to see the Avengers in their suits. Tony was in his signature smart suits and had a car standing by. Clint was trying to do the tie on Thor but he wouldn't let him and Jane and Darcy immediately went over to help. He still had his hammer ready and the cape with a shirt and smart shoes on underneath. He had refused to take those off. Nat was in a smart blue suit and Pepper in her smart red one. Jane and Darcy had put something more formal on but were still looking quite casual with their rolled up sleeves. Steve had a bodyguard suit on, not wanting to be spotted by the press and you were in a grey dress complete with tights, heels and a belt. You took your normal side bag and saddled it on.

You smiled at Steve and took his arm before seeing Bruce. He was in his normal lab coat but he'd put on a formal shirt and tie underneath, complete with a done up tie and clipboard. His hair had been smartened up and your breath hitched. You didn't know what it was but something about seeing him in his lab coat again made you smile. It was such a welcome sight after the month you'd had. It had to have been only 3 weeks at most but it felt like years since you'd seen him like that. "You look amazing (Y/N)." He grinned, Steve giving your arm to Bruce who gently tucked it into his own with your nod of approval.

"You don't look too bad yourself. Have you put gel in your hair?" You ask, putting a hand into his hair before Clint lifted it away with a short, sharp yell.

"It took me ages to get it looking like that. Don't you dare!" He told you as you laughed, putting your hand back by your side and giving Bruce one of your secret looks like you used to.

"I preferred it messy." You whisper as he helps you get into the car with your heels. Pepper walked with Tony, Jane with Thor, Clint was a gentleman and escorted Darcy while you happily walked with Bruce. Steve just walked with Darcy and Clint, all 3 friends together. You sat in your pairings in the car, the couples talking between them as Clint and Darcy talked to you and Bruce. You checked that you had the large file with the extensive research you'd done until the early hours of the morning in your side bag a million times, keeping a hand on it just in case. Your nerves made you play with the zip over and over while the other hand kept itself tucked into Bruce's arm and safe. Secure.

"Guys, we're pulling up. Just ignore the reporters and keep walking." Tony told them, having had a lot of experience with the press. They all nodded and took a breath, getting out one by one and the men holding out hands for the ladies. On any other occasion it would've looked like a grand ball, but the sombre expressions on their faces told them otherwise. Clint escorted Darcy first, knowing that the reporters wouldn't be too bothered with them while Steve slipped into the background, pretending to be a bodyguard and taking them inside. He used his body to guard them from many photos and removed the fake earpiece and gun when he got inside, giving it to the nearest proper guard. Nat walked shortly after, a smirk on her face as she avoided the flashing lights.

Tony and Pepper went next, well experienced with them. Next was Thor and Jane, Thor swinging his hammer around distractedly as he surveyed the area. It picked up a lot of wind and Jane brought him back, putting a hand on his chest as he smiled and walked in. Finally, it was you and Bruce's turn and placed a comforting hand on your arm first before stepping out and holding out a hand to you. You gratefully took it, making sure not to stumble in your heels as you walked out, your hand tucked into Bruce's arm again. You did what Tony said and ignored them, walking at a normal pace to avoid suspicion and to keep as calm as you could.

"We did it." Bruce whispered, bringing you into the reception as the proper bodyguards closed the doors behind them. You looked up at him with a thankful smile, and you all sat down, trying to calm yourselves down. Tony came back and told them that they were case 41 and they would be called any moment. True to his word, they were called and escorted to the court room but before they could walk in, the Avengers, Jane and Darcy and Pepper were all stopped and told they couldn't go in. You turn around to the receptionist and look at them as Darcy steps forwards to argue but Jane pulls her back, knowing they shouldn't make a fuss.

"So who's allowed in?" You ask, not wanting to go in alone.

"You, Mr Stark and Dr Banner. They are the only ones on my list who are fighting this case." She told them, looking down at her clipboard. You look at the two as they all take deep breaths, getting ready for the mammoth task ahead. You turn to everyone and all 3 of you start to say your goodbyes and good luck's as if it were you were about to die. The receptionist was waiting impatiently, obviously irritated with how long they were taking. "The case is starting soon. You have 3 minutes to set up inside before the full jury files in." She reminded them, hoping to get them to move as they rolled their eyes.

"Okay guys, let's do this." You tell the boys, turning back to them and holding out your hands for them to take. The receptionist opens the door before scurrying off as quickly as she can and the 3 of you start to walk in, finding your places. You pull out your file and sift through it, making sure it's all there and you pull out the sheet to start with before taking a sip of the complimentary bottle of water under all of the seats. You look at the boys who were setting up in their own way and all nod, voices gone in the immensity of the court room.

Everybody starts to fill in moments later and you try to cast out all nerves, sizing up your competition. "All rise for court!" The voice calls out and you do as he says, along with everyone else, standing up to look around. You straighten your pencil skirt and tighten your belt, letting the strand of hair fall by your side. "You may be seated." He finished and everyone sat but you, singling you out in the crowd. You take a deep breath and begin. Here goes nothing.

9


	18. Book 2: Chapter 5

Bruce Confession Short Story: Chapter 18:

"She doesn't deserve to be on American soil. Look where it got us." He said, gesturing to the hall and the tension in the room grew massively. Your fists tightened and you clenched your jaw, trying not to punch anyone. You'd been at this for several hours and nothing was changing his mind.

"With all due respect sir, you're a complete idiot." You reply as calmly as you can, evoking sniggers from the crowd and the smirk from the idiot's face dropped, giving you the slightest satisfaction. "You gesture to the hall when you say where it got us. What do you mean by that? Do you mean the fact that she saved so many people such as myself? Her and her brother included, who died in this battle, saving not only the people of Sokovia but my own life." You challenge, looking at him in the eyes with a dead, battle-hardened stare.

"I understand that Miss (L/N)-"

"No, I don't think you do." You interrupt angrily. "Miss Wanda Maximoff has faced so much more than the average person and deserves so much better than you are giving her. She and her brother were taken from a young age and experimented on to give them the powers they have. They depended on each other and their connection was stronger than anything you can imagine. Not only that, but they had to build their lives on nothing and it was all taken away from them by one bad decision. Ultron."

"They could've decided to fight against us and potentially win the battle for Ultron but instead, they fought for us and in the result, Pietro Maximoff even lost his life. They were the reason we won this and what do you do to them?" You ask, you angry tirade capturing the attention of every person in the room as silence reigned. "You try and break what is already broken instead of offering the help she needs. What has happened to America?" You ask, getting a rise out of everyone.

"I may not be a 'pure-blooded American' but I know that this is not the place I entered a few years ago and fell in love with. What has happened to you, trying to throw an honoured veteran out of America for what reason exactly?" You ask, looking around at everyone to see if they had an answer.

"Miss Maximoff has committed numerous crimes against not only the US but other countries, working with criminals." The Senator stated again on repeat like a broken record.

"Because she had no other choice! She didn't know any better!" You shout back, losing your temper. "I don't know how many times I have to repeat this to get this through your thick skull!" You shout again, walking around and making gestures with your hand as you cursed loudly. "You do realise that she was brought up like that! Her entire life was like that from such a young age! Do you have no human decency in your mind to realise that? She had no parents to tell her right from wrong. Your parents must've tried yet look how bad that turned out!" You insulted him, losing all patience with everything he was saying.

"Miss (L/N), I will not sit here and be insulted."

"Then don't say things that don't make sense and contradicts everything I have JUST said!" You retort again, not letting him carry on.

"I have not contradicted you. I have only stated my points." He repeated, trying to keep calm.

"Fine. State your points. I will contradict them one by one." You say, crossing your arms angrily.

"Miss (L/N), I will not do this."

"Then I will carry on with my lectures and we will get nowhere with this case." You state, giving him a hard stare.

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a fact." You retort, cracking your fingers intimidatingly. He stared back for a moment before sighing.

"Miss Maximoff has consulted with criminals and they have committed numerous crimes against not only the US but many of this countries' allies." Firm stated first, tired of repeating himself but what he needed to know was that he wasn't the only one tired of repetition.

"You have already said this and I have already said that Wanda was in a bad place. She did not have any parents to guide her. She was taken from such a young age, how was she supposed to have known what to do?" You ask, appealing to the masses. "It is like saying a baby should be thrown out for locking a phone because they didn't know what was happening with it." You say, questioning it as you said it, but not going back on what you said.

That sentence echoed in your head and you stared forwards for a moment, lost before blinking and snapping out of it. You knew that sentence off by heart and could remember his harsh tone perfectly but tried to shake it out of your head before you started to break down. "Nothing was explained to them and the second it was, they switched sides. Why would you punish them for that?"

"And can I just say, the battle against Ultron could've ended quite differently if not for Wanda and Pietro Maximoff." You say darkly, looking at everyone in the room but Bruce, not wanting to let your angry fire be extinguished. "We could all be dead if not for Wanda Maximoff. Everyone in this room owes their life to Wanda Maximoff and we should thank her instead of trying to chuck her out of the country." You say, turning back to the Senator. "Next point." You order, folding your arms.

"She is a potential threat as we cannot guarantee she will fight for America or not." Senator Firm read off the paper.

"'She'," You say, exaggerating the 'she' so he could see how disrespectful that was. "Has suffered huge losses and has been killed-" You get cut off by the Senator and grit your teeth, trying not to climb up onto his stupid podium and slap him.

"I'm sorry, how has she been killed?" He asked, confused.

"I think Dr Banner can answer that one." You say, moving to the side to regain your composure as Bruce takes centre stage. Tony hands you a water bottle and you smile gratefully, downing it to the delight of your burning throat.

"You're doing great (Y/N). Just don't kick his ass ok?" He whispered with a smirk, making you laugh and calm down. Your anger wasn't fading, just getting back under control.

"I'll try." You whisper back, turning back to watch Dr Banner as you sat down in Bruce's now unoccupied chair, tired of standing so much.

"I conducted a few harmless tests on Wanda's powers, just observing her and it seems the bond between her and her brother wasn't simply by blood. They shared a much stronger, deeper connection than just siblings. I am unsure if this is because of the powers they share, the same gene that seems to have manifested itself in each other or because of something else, but they could sense each other's pain."

"They could sense if the other was hurt or in trouble and when Pietro sadly died, she felt the pain through herself. It was how she could sense him dying without seeing his body or seeing it happen as she was on the other side of the city." Bruce explained, showing the footage on the screen. It showed Pietro dying from afar but his platinum bleached blond hair was clearly visible on the screens and another screen showed Wanda screaming and in pain at the same time, her powers bursting all around her and completely incinerating the robots trying to get to the mechanism holding up the rock.

"And as you can see here, even while she died, she controlled her powers enough to not incinerate the mechanism holding up the city and not killing everyone right then. She just stopped Ultron like she had been the whole time, even while dealing with the pain of losing her brother and feeling the pain he had." You explain sadly, seeing the Wanda on screen and trying to hold back the tears. You wished you could go through the screen and console her but you knew at that time you were probably in the hospital bed, either unconscious or with James. "So I think that answers your question Senator." You finish, folding your arms to show him that the point he had made was thoroughly disproven.

"It's really quite interesting though, I don't know how deep that bond could've gone." Bruce carried on, watching the footage as it replayed and you bit your lip.

"Bruce, you've made your point. Go join Tony." You told him, giving his hand an indiscreet squeeze to pull him out of his science. He realised where he was and how close you were and nodded, walking over to Tony who was smirking and sat him down. "Can we take down the footage please? It can be quite upsetting to everyone watching." You ask, taking a breath as your eyes were transfixed on Pietro's shocked expression before he said something and collapsed. You remembered those bleached locks and tracksuit.

You remembered those eyes twinkling with life and mischief. You remembered the feel of his rough tracksuit and hands as they held you as you sped through the city and your heart cried out, closing up your throat. Suddenly, you were staring at a black screen, no visual displayed anymore and started taking small, short breaths to compose yourself. It had been hard to learn that he had died and every time you remembered him, your throat closed up and you had trouble breathing back the tears and emotion.

"So as I was saying um," You say, blinking yourself back to reality and trying to take control of the situation again when the screen flashed with the pictures of Pietro dying and the Senator using an almost discreet hand signal to the controller to keep going. "While Wanda Maximoff was dealing with the hardest situation of her life, she still managed to keep control of the situation and not end the entire battle right there and then." You conclude, your voice not as strong as it was before, shaken by watching Pietro die.

"Are you alright Miss (L/N)?" Another senator asked, walking over to you. She was a woman and worry was etched in her eyes as tears flooded your eyes and you had trouble blinking them back because when you did, they just fell instead.

"Yes thank you, may I please just have a chair to sit down on?" You ask, suddenly feeling incredibly faint.

"Of course." She nodded, rushing to bring a spare chair over and you set it down in the middle, right in front of the Senator to show him how you would not back down even after his little trick.

"Thank you..." You say, asking for a name.

"Jane." She told you, smiling at you. "Jane Burrow." Jane finished as you smiled at her, trying to regain control over yourself.

"Nice to meet you Jane. Thank you for the chair." You finish as she walked back to her seat. "Nice try Senator but that won't work. You flash the screen on and off to show me Pietro dying but you know what that does?" You ask, getting up with a new fire burning in your eyes. "It reminds me that I am taking care of his sister and making sure she has her well-deserved place in American society. Yes I am mourning and yes, I will still be mourning but that is a cheap and dirty trick that will not work or be tolerated in the court. Do I make myself clear Senator Firm?" You ask angrily, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Of course Miss (L/N), but I had nothing to do with that." He told her, his voice silky smooth, trying to worm his way out of the situation and the blame being put on him.

"Really? Because I saw something else." Tony asked, walking into centre stage so that you wouldn't blow up. "FRIDAY? Bring up the footage from the last 10 minutes." He asked and an AI brought up the footage on the screens they had just turned off.

"Of course Mr Stark." A female voice rang out and it soothed you somewhat. It showed the Senator only before bringing up more footage on the other screen focusing on you and you smirked, seeing your reflection.

Pepper, Jane and Darcy had helped you get ready. Pepper knew all about good business suits and gave you one that fit you perfectly with some small heels as you weren't too good with them, while Jane had done your hair and Darcy, your makeup. She hadn't put much on but a blood red lip gloss and shaping your eyes properly so you looked intimidating. You had to admit, she had done a great job. Jane had twisted your hair into an elegant bun and brought out a strand to look cute and you felt better every time it fell forward, for some reason, interpreting it like they were right there and cheering you on. You could feel their fire and anger at the injustice of it all as well and let it spur you on, fuelling you every time you got weaker.

"Go forwards 5 and a half minutes FRIDAY." Tony told her and she did what he asked, fast forwarding to you looking shocked and shaken. You had gone pale and looked sick, tears brewing in your eyes and you felt sick, looking at yourself looking sick. "Now zoom in on the Senator's hands." Tony ordered in a bored tone as FRIDAY did what he asked. The Senator himself was telling the person working the screens to do something and they were trying everything to turn it off. They'd seen Tony Stark do the same thing to Senator Stern and it had almost wrecked him.

"Ooh, what do we have here?" Tony asked, walking closer to the screen before pointing at a man. "Don't do that." He told him without looking but the man didn't listen and sparks flew everywhere but the screens stayed on, showing everyone the truth. "I did warn you." Tony shrugged, not too bothered with the man. "Now, if we clear up the image, it looks a lot like a code not used since the war am I right?" He asked, watching his hands carefully. "Interesting, it was a battle code, telling him to go forwards, carry on. Now, in the modern world I think that means, keep flashing the images. Am I right?" Tony asked, finally turning to the Senator after the technician had finally pulled the plug on the screens. Literally.

"Mr Stark, you are not a part of this court case, please could you step outside?" The Senator asked and you looked at Tony, pleading with your eyes for him not to go. You needed some moral support, yours and Bruce's relationship was shaky, the foundation was crumbling and you needed something solid. Pepper, Darcy and Jane and Natasha and Clint, all the Avengers weren't allowed in the room. Only Tony had been and you couldn't do this without someone, anyone to be there for you. Bruce was only allowed because of his research and input to the case. You were technically working the case together, according to the papers but they all hastened to add that you were the main drive behind it on request of Tony.

"No Senator I will not step outside. I am allowed to be a witness." Tony protested, looking him in the eyes as you watched the exchange carefully.

"Then be a witness by all means, but do not interfere with the case." The Senator told Tony and you could see Tony was about to protest again and ran over at the same time as Bruce.

"Tony! Just let it go. Calm down, you've made your point. Thanks for standing up for me but I really need you here." You say, taking his arm and whispering to him so the Senator wouldn't see. Tony hadn't looked at you but when you said you needed him, he turned his head and you could see the protectiveness and anger in his eyes. You smiled and gave him a quick hug. "Thank you Tony." You whispered again, looking at Bruce over his shoulder.

"You're welcome. But remember you have Bruce as well." Tony whispered back and you bit your lip, not replying.

"Miss (L/N), if we are allowed to carry on with the court case?" The Senator mocked as Bruce led Tony back to the seats and you pulled away, glaring at the Senator. Everything he had said just annoyed you and your fire burned brighter than ever as you tried to keep it contained.

"Of course Senator. You have my permission." You retort, not letting him get even a small victory over you. Every time he thought he could one-up you, you would fight back and show him that he was fighting a losing battle that he could come out of with a shred of dignity left, if he let Wanda back on American soil.

"Thank you Miss (L/N)." The Senator deadpanned, glaring at you but his reaction just made you smile wider.

"Next point then Senator." You say innocently, pressing your lips together so you didn't say anything you shouldn't.

"Wanda Maximoff does not have a controller." The Senator spoke, using the same point but phrasing it differently.

"What do you mean by 'controller'?" You ask, folding your arms as you sat down elegantly.

"I mean, she had no equal. No one to stop her if she gets out of control." The Senator explained, not seeming too intimidated by your pose.

"What makes you think she needs an equal to stop her?" You asked, trying to get him to flail and question his own argument.

"Because she is powerful and she needs an equal if not a better."

"There is no better. Wanda listens, she will not 'get out of control'. She has not when she died, what makes you think anything else could shake her?" You ask, challenging him.

"Because we do not know what other threats are out there. You say she will not but we saw Hawkeye himself turn against the Avengers because of mind control, if that was to happen to Miss Maximoff, the Avengers would not be able to stop her. You said yourself that if she didn't switch, then the battle between the Avengers and Ultron would have gone very differently." The Senator backed up his argument, scaring you when he used your own point against you. If you were honest with yourself, he did have a point. He had a right to be scared if that happened but you knew it wouldn't because Wanda wasn't the one to get under mind control rather than put someone else under it.

You were silent for a moment, trying to think of something to say to contradict him and panicking, running through your father's rules in your mind. But when you did, his booming, echoing voice bounced around your head, shaking you to the core. You zoned out, hearing his voice over and over again. "Use their own points against them! Challenge them! Analyse everything they say! Remember what they say! Don't ever let them use anything against you!" These, and more ran through your head as you struggled to keep the tears from running down your face. The last one shook you and a new sentence repeated in your mind.

"You failed. You failed. You always fail. You'll never be good enough. Even a 3 year old could do better!" The voice grew in pitch and volume as you stared into nothingness, the tears welling up. You knew this case was going to be hard but the fact that you had to fight it, you had to use the lessons beaten into you and every single moment you used them, you felt like him. You felt powerful and tall. You felt unbeatable and the mere fact scared you.

"We have a new Avenger called Vision." Bruce spoke up, scaring you as you snapped out of it. You blinked quickly, trying to blink back the tears that hadn't fallen before and you raised a few fingers up to wipe away the few tears that had fallen without you knowing it. When you felt the cold liquid, you bit your lip quickly and used both hands to wipe the rest away. "He has powers yet untested and is a humanoid robot. He is easily Wanda's equal and can easily take her out if he needs to." Bruce told them, surprising you as you had no idea who Vision was. You looked over at him and you could tell he was purposefully avoiding your gaze to look at the Senator instead.

"Also, with my research, I could easily design a cell that would contain her powers." He added, wanting to show the Senator he didn't have to worry, a different approach to you who fought fire with fire. He fought it with water while water just ran down your cheeks.

"When could this cell be designed?" The Senator asked, curious about his approach.

"In the next few months." Bruce replied calmly, looking at Firm with a kind, doctor-like smile. You felt the emotions inside you begin to overflow, more tears coming to your eyes. Luckily, Darcy had put on waterproof mascara and you mentally thanked her for thinking ahead. "Shall we take a break? I'm sure everyone would appreciate an hour to eat and refresh themselves." Bruce suggested, seeing you weren't going to last much longer without more waterworks that were detectable this time.

"Of course Dr Banner. Court dismissed for an hour's break." The Senator announced and everyone got up, heading to the doors while you kept swallowing back the emotion and trying to stuff it back down again before you would have to fight for Wanda again. You could feel the fight draining out of you as you relaxed into the chair. It felt hopeless and impossible, like you were fighting the losing battle instead because of his little tricks and one small victory. All your confidence had gone.

"(Y/N)." A calm, kind voice spoke and you blinked yourself out of it to look at Bruce, your emotions showing the second you did. Your face screwed up as you bit your lip, tears falling down your face before you started to sob, everything surfacing. "(Y/N)," A heartbroken voice spoke, rushing over to comfort you as you cried properly, all your insecurities and problems with your past. Your feelings towards Bruce and your lack of confidence for protecting Wanda, all surfacing at once. "What's wrong?" He asked comfortingly, holding you in his arms, succumbing to his feelings as well.

You had both taken up the two chairs, one Bruce had brought over, and didn't want to get too close to each other for fear of losing their guards. Neither knew that the other was thinking the exact same thing as them. "What happened? Was it Pietro?" Bruce asked, his heart breaking as he heard your gut-wrenching sobs. You had buried your head in your hands and he had wrapped his arms around you, trying to get you to look up.

"I don't know what it is." You admit, not knowing the reason for your complete breakdown.

"I do." He told you and through your tears you let out a watery snort into your hands.

"Enlighten me." You whisper, more tears seeping through your hands.

"You're dealing with too much. It's overwhelming you, you can't deal with it all at once. You need to calm down and slow down. You think you have to be the protector of everyone. You think you have to be some kind of superwoman. You don't." He reassured as you looked into his eyes, seeing nothing but honesty and sincerity. "(Y/N), you're already a superwoman to me. You don't need to keep proving yourself. You don't need to keep juggling everything without help." Bruce told you, looking deep into your eyes and you couldn't help but feel awkward but for some reason, not able to pull away as you watched him.

"Thanks." You whisper, not needing to speak any louder because of the proximity.

"You're welcome." He whispers back. "Now tell me what really happened." He continued and you snap out of it like you always do when the topic arises.

"I thought you figured it out." You joke, trying to move away from it.

"(Y/N), tell me what happened." Bruce ordered more firmly, holding you in his arms. When you didn't respond, he tried to get you to look at him. "(Y/N)."

"You know Liv right? My sister." You begin, telling him the sorry tale of your childhood.

"Yeah…?" He asked, confused as to where this was going.

"And you know my Mum. So I have a Mum and a sister, find the missing family member." You finish bitterly, tears rolling down your cheeks as you roughly wipe them away.

"The Dad." Bruce filled in, waiting to hear just what had happened, his grip tightening on her arms.

"Yeah, the Dad." You say, taking a breath before sniffing a few more tears back. "Every Dad has dreams for their kid. They all want them to grow up right, but mine… My biological parent, he wanted me to become a lawyer. He had his heart set on it. Also his fists at times." You mutter, indicating abuse to Bruce who picked up on it immediately. His hands curled around your arms and you could practically feel the anger radiating off of him. "I just thought he was an angry person. Until I was 10. Until I showed him what a good lawyer I would make and he gave up on Liv and made me the centre of attention." You say, staring ahead into space. You'd regretted that decision all your life.

"Mum would do whatever she could to protect me while I kept talking and 'running my mouth' so I got a few punches as well." You let the tears fall as you tried to breathe, the memories jarring your throat. "Liv worked hard as she could in school and took me away when she got an internship. Then she filed a complaint against the man and I had to do this. I had to testify against him and… I had to be a lawyer for myself." You swallowed, remembering how you couldn't afford a proper lawyer so you used your forced degree to put him away. "He got imprisoned for a year and a restraints saying he couldn't come within 100 miles of us." You finished, not able to talk about it for much longer.

"I never thought-" Bruce began but got cut off.

"Of course you didn't. We made sure you didn't."

"We?"

"Fury. Saved me and Liv when he found us in an alleyway. Then he offered me a job and got Liv a job. She stayed in England while I came here. A fresh start." You spat, thinking about how that fresh start was gone now.

"Fury knew as well." Bruce stated, in shock.

"I'm sorry, I can't do this." You say, your throat closing up. Just hearing his shock and disgust at your past scared you and you got up quickly, fleeing the room as you run to the female bathroom. You barely see your friends and everyone else around you watching as you run, all confused and ready to run after you.

"(Y/N)!" Bruce shouted, running after you but losing you after you left the room.

"Bruce, what happened? Why did (Y/N) run away?" Pepper asked, walking up to the flustered scientist.

"Where did she go?" He asked quickly, looking around.

"The bathroom." Pepper replied and watched as Bruce raced off, faster than she'd ever seen him and the others came up to her.

"Peps, what happened?" Darcy asked, worried for her friend.

"I think that maybe these two scientists will realise that chemistry isn't just made in the lab." Pepper smirked, watching as Bruce entered the female bathroom with little hesitation, only set on finding (Y/N).

"Ok what happened?" Jane asked, confused. "The two scientists I know are way too dense for that." She laughed as they all silently rejoiced, hoping their assumptions would be correct.

"I know right?" Darcy laughed, joining in.

 **The Bathroom:**

"Y/N)?" Bruce asked, looking around the corner to see a woman washing her hands in the sink. She looked at him confusedly, a hint of disgust on her face.

"This is the ladies bathroom." She stated, drying her hands with the paper towel.

"I'm sorry." Bruce apologised, about to creep back out before hearing a small, stifled sob and regaining his courage. "But I'm looking for someone." He told her, walking in further and ignoring the lady. "(Y/N)? (Y/N)!" He called, carefully opening the doors to every stall. He got to the third one and saw it was blocked, something stopping it every time he tried to open it. It wasn't a lock, he'd gone too far for it to be a lock.

It was something else, and he had a feeling he knew exactly what it was. "(Y/N)?" He asked softly, his voice kinder than before. "Let me in?" He asked, his gentle on the knocking on the door making you slowly curl into yourself more as you sat on the floor, your feet positioned against the door.

"Just leave me. I'll be ready for the trial again, don't worry." You say, hoping it would make him leave you alone even though you knew it wouldn't.

"I don't care about that. I care about you." Bruce replied, pushing the door open to see you crouching in the corner of the stall as you cried. You instantly started to wipe your tears, pretending to be fine with your red eyes and running nose.

"I'm sorry, I'll be out in a minute." You apologise, taking a bit of the toilet paper and cleaning your nose with it before throwing it behind you into the toilet.

"No you won't." He told you as he went to hold you, both of you on the floor as he kicked the bathroom door shut with his foot. "Now, I want every single detail of why this is making you so sad. Tell me everything." He ordered and you can't help the little smile that comes onto your face from his sincerity.

"Bruce-" You begin but he cuts you off.

"(Y/N), don't say it's nothing. If it's nothing, you wouldn't be crying. And if you say that I'll get angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." He warned jokingly as you laughed through the tears, wiping your face again and blocking the toilet further as you threw it behind you.

"I like you all the time." You tell him as you blush at each other, both of you smiling.

"What was it that got you smiling? The support or the jokes?" He asked, trying to move the conversation forwards as you played with a bit of tissue in your hands.

"All of it? Just your personality Bruce." You say, not having a decisive answer. You look up at Bruce and realise how close you are. You wonder for a brief moment if you should move back and it looks like Bruce is thinking the same thing. But then you also can't help but feel yourself moving closer and watch as he does the same. You decide to screw it and just lean in, your eyes closed. Almost at once he responds and you move your hand up to his cheek and his hand gets tangled in your bun like it did at the party. Before Ultron and Pietro and Wanda. Before Liv and Jason and Mariana.

Before everything got so complicated. It felt like you were just picking up from there and nothing had changed between you. All doubts you had about your feelings and his just melted away as closed your eyes, just concentrating on you two. When you both pulled away for air, you looked into each other's eyes and you kept a hold on his cheek, just as he did on your messy hair. "Are you alright?" Bruce asked as you looked shocked that you had both even done that. A smile started to spread over your face as you nodded, not able to stop.

"Perfect." You tell him as you slowly remove your hands from his face. His hand slides down to cup your cheek and you leaned into it, closing your eyes slightly. "Thank you." You tell him after a moment, opening your eyes again.

"For what?" He asked, still entranced as you both smiled at each other.

"Cheering me up." You joke, making you both laugh a little. "And giving me a nice memory." You manage to finish before the door is opened and Pepper, Jane and Darcy stand on the other side. Bruce quickly retracts his hand and you quickly pat your bun back down. When it is properly opened, it is revealed to have Darcy holding her phone, ready to take a picture of them.

"Aw, come on. Nothing?" She asks and you both stand up, brushing themselves off.

"Sorry Darcy." You say, walking out and out of the bathroom, leaving Bruce in the stall where he flushed the toilet for you. You looked back and cringed, realising it was filled with your snotty tissues. You try to looked away and wipe any trace of the event from your face. "Now, where's the food?" You ask, looking at the 3 women in front of you. They lead you to the cafeteria where you buy a pasta hot pot and eat it while Jane redoes your hair, a few imperfections in the elegant bun from Bruce's hands. You try to forget it as you eat the pasta, concentrating on not letting it get stuck in your closing throat.

"Ok, done. Now don't go off crying and get it stuck in the tissue stand again." Jane mock scolds, sitting next to you as you finish the pasta.

"Sorry." You smile at her, playing with the plastic fork you were given.

"Yeah, funny how that happened. How did you get it unstuck again?" Darcy asked, pointing out the obvious as they all looked at you with disbelieving looks on their faces.

"Easily." You reply, not admitting anything.

"So you can look at me and say that nothing happened between you and Bruce?" Pepper challenged and as soon as she mentioned the scientist, your cheeks flushed red and no further confirmation was needed.

"I knew it." Jane smirked, saying it at the same time as Darcy. The both smiled at you as you scoffed half-heartedly, trying to come up with some other excuse.

"You know, you two are just really creepy when you do that." You told them as they smiled, looking at each other and nodding.

"But in the toilet? That's nasty." Darcy laughs, nudging you. "I'm proud." She jokes as you try to ignore them and stop smiling.

"It wasn't like that." You try to defend and they all raise their eyebrows.

"So what was it like?" Jane asked and you bite your lip, trying to ignore them as they all laughed at your reaction.

"Can I have my lip gloss now please?" You asked, getting up and holding the empty pasta pot in one hand.

"Why? Going to pucker up for Bruce?" Darcy teased, a little too loud as you frantically hushed her.

"Darcy! Shut up!" You tell her in a strained whisper as other started to stare. "And no for your information, I just want to look my best for when I win this case." You hiss, taking the gloss from her outstretched hand.

"And give Bruce a victory kiss." Darcy replied with a whisper as well, her voice full of mirth that you tried to ignore. You roll your eyes as you walk away to the toilet to use the mirror. "And I want that gloss back by the way!" She shouted after you and you tried to be calm and not show your embarrassment. You made it to the toilet and applied a few layers, hoping to make it last.

"Could all members associated with case 41 please adjourn in the court please?" The speakerphone reported, the voice professional and kind as you checked your watch. It was you and you were ready. To get back into that court room and win this case. For Wanda and Pietro, for Bruce and most importantly, for yourself. You weren't going to let your Dad rule over your life anymore. You were going to take charge, for yourself.

10


	19. Book 2: Chapter 6

Bruce Confession AU Chapter 19:

 **Guest Review: Because I can't reply to you personally, I'm just going to put it up here. And I'm really glad that you are enjoying the story so far. I had this idea ages ago and only just decided to develop it into something more. I can't tell you how happy your review made me and I'm glad I've got a review now :) And I did have a great day, because of your comment. It honestly made me grin all day so thank you for that.**

You check your phone after you have your breakfast, ready for the second day of the case that you were there for. You were sure it had to be a quick one. Just to wrap things up. Everyone was tired of the constant arguing and honestly, most of them knew that Wanda was innocent. It was meant to be finished the day you got back but using your lawyer's degree and his rules shook you too much and you needed another day. You scroll through Liv's messages, updating you on everything back home and all the voicemails and photos of Liv and Wanda and Mariana. You smile, remembering your fantasy. This was exactly the life you'd always wanted and you knew it. To be updated on your family because you were a big part of it. To keep in contact regularly.

You then scroll down and find nothing else, putting it down before it buzzes and you pick it up excitedly, thinking it might be Liv replying to your text but see a private number and click on it, curiosity getting the best of you. Your eyes widen and you fall off your stool, letting the cereal bowl crash onto the floor and smash, the phone still on the table. You start to back away, the fear obvious in your eyes as you start to shake, pulling your knees up to your chest. "(Y/N)!" Bruce shouted, crashing into the room. He saw you in the middle of the room, shaking on the floor. "What happened? I heard the crash, are you alright?" He asked, getting on his knees to look at you.

You don't reply, just keep shaking as tears roll down your cheeks, shaken by what you saw. "What is it? Point." Bruce told her, knowing that in cases of shock, they wouldn't be able to talk much or control their body, the shaking. You raise a wavering finger to the table where the phone buzzed so much, it fell to the floor. Luckily, it didn't smash and Bruce went to pick it up, the screen still on from when you left it. He read the message and he instantly understands what happened and walks forwards with the phone and you start to back away again.

Your eyes are focused on the phone, not wanting to be anywhere near it. Bruce follows your eyeline and stops, throwing the phone on the bed, stifling the shaking for a moment as he walks over again. "It's okay, it might not even be real." He tried to tell you as you shook your head, pulling your knees up into your chest.

"Who else would it be? He's just told me my entire life story. No one knows that, no one apart from me and you." You told him, before looking at him with worry. He instantly understood what you were trying to say and just put his hands up.

"It wasn't me, I promise. I wouldn't do anything like that." He tried to tell you as he bent down before you.

"So it has to be him!" You finish, dragging your fingers through your hair in fear. "Fury wouldn't do this! Liv already has my number! Jason barely texts me! It has to be, it has to be…" You finish in a whisper, your throat blocking up as you try to breathe. Bruce held you as you cried, fear stopping every rational thought.

"Look, you're protected here. No one will try to get you. Don't worry." He tried to sooth you, tears streaming down your face as you rocked back and forth, fear of the past running through your veins.

"How am I going to do this? I can't go back out there." You tell him, leaning into him as he stays by your side silently.

"Of course you can. You can't not go out there. You're the key to this. You're how we'll win this." He told you which made you curl into yourself more, the words sounding familiar. "But with you and your personality and your fire. Not your Dad's. Not his lessons. We'll do it all how you would. And we'll win." He promised as you relaxed, a lot less tense. You stopped crying and looked back up at him with teary eyes.

"How can you be so sure?" You ask, still not 100% believing in yourself.

"Because I believe in you, even though you don't. I know it will be enough." Bruce finished, picking you up off the floor and helping you stand properly. Thankfully you were still in your pyjamas and hadn't changed or put any makeup on. You wiped away your tears and regained the motivation from yesterday. You were going to do this. You were going to do this for everyone.

"Thanks Bruce." You whisper, giving him a hug. You were still a little shaky but his tight and firm hold on you quickly ceased the wobble and you stood taller than ever with Bruce standing next to you. "I'm going to get ready for this case. It ends today." You speak with finality in your voice, ready to end this whole debacle and welcome Wanda back with open arms. You walk away from Bruce, forgetting the rocky relationship between and just enjoying his company and support.

He watches you go with an irrepressible smile and Clint walks in soon after, picking up (Y/N)'s broken cereal bowl and shrugging, just putting it in the bin. He just assumed that Bruce had turned Hulk and smashed it but he hadn't heard. He hadn't put in his hearing aids yet, liking the silence for a moment. Bruce picks up your phone and sees the text. He scans over it once more and shook his head. Your father truly was a despicable man. The text asked, no ordered, you to go back.

'(Y/N), I know this is your phone number. Reply to me as soon as you get this. Don't you dare try to ignore me, it's not like you can. I know that you are working with the Avengers, disgusting creatures. I know that you are in some sort of working relationship with the angry one, how could you? Working with an abomination when you deserve so much better? Come to me and I can help you, don't you dare ignore me.'

It was one long, well-constructed and paragraphed text. Bruce went back to her other chats and saw a recent text conversation with Liv and tapped on it before his morals could kick in. He read through the normal sister banter before reaching an interesting conversation. About him.

"So you know Bruce?" Liv asked, being met with a sighing emoji. "What? You know I think he's really cute. He's so perfect for you, why do you deny this stuff?" She asked and Bruce scrolled down, eager to know what had happened next.  
"Because I know it's never going to happen." You replied, remembering Laura's house.  
"But what if it did? What if he one day just told you that he'd been trying so hard to deny it but he loved you?" Liv challenged and another text followed that when you didn't reply. "You're blushing aren't you?" She asked, catching you out.  
"No I'm not." You told her, trying to seem normal.  
"I can tell when you're lying." Liv replied, not taking it.  
"No you can't." You say, nothing else coming to mind.  
"Look, he's not going to see this. Just tell me honestly, do you like him?" Liv demanded, no idea of the irony of her statement as Bruce read through it with a smirk.  
"Honestly, yes. I like him a lot." You reveal, glad she couldn't see your face or the teasing would be endless. "But he doesn't want a relationship. He's made that perfectly clear." You add bitterly, still a little wounded from the rejection at Laura's house.  
"But what if he's changed his mind? Men do that a lot." Liv reminded, making you bite your lip.  
"But what if he hasn't? He hasn't changed his mind at any point in all of the years I've known him. Why would he have a sudden change of heart?" You ask, fear stopping you as you let out a sigh.  
"I don't know what he could say. But I know that if you don't try then you won't know. It's a normal and common piece of advice but there is a reason it's common. It has a lot of truth to it." Liv finished, the conversation finishing there. Bruce blinked, coming out of his trance and clicking the phone off, putting it in his pocket. He felt guilty for going through your messages but not that guilty because them he knew what you wanted and thought about him. And part of him still couldn't believe that it matched what he wanted and thought about you.

"Bruce, what are you doing?" Tony asked, walking into the kitchen with a tired yawn. He clapped a hand on his back and stretched, reaching for the toast.

"Nothing." Bruce quickly replied, taking the phone back out and walking away with it.

"Was that (Y/N)'s phone?" Tony asked Clint as he watched the scientist walk off.

"What?" Clint asked, seeing Tony move. He put his hearing aids in and Tony spoke again.

"What was Bruce doing?" He repeated as Clint shrugged, not having seen or heard anything. He had simply been cleaning up the smashed cereal bowl and thinking, in his own little world. "Oh well, guess we'll hear about it later." Tony shrugged, not too bothered. As much as he wanted the two of you to get together, nothing mattered more than energy. If it came in liquid or crumbly bread form, he didn't care. He just wanted something to get him through the day.

Bruce walked to your room and knocked gently on the door to warn you before he opened the door. "Hey Bruce, what's up?" You ask, flicking your eyes over to the scientist as Darcy keeps turning your head the other way, applying the blood red lipstick again.

"Um, you forgot your phone." He told you, giving it back to you as you smiled at him, taking it.

"Thanks. I'll see you later yeah?" You ask him, not afraid of talking to him like a normal person. That crush stage had messed you up a lot, added with the Ultron mess, it was a lot to deal with. But thankfully, it was over and you could talk to him properly. You still had your crush to deal with but you knew that it wouldn't obstruct your working relationship. You could be yourself around him and not worry about any embarrassment. You had already known Bruce for years before you had realised your crush on him a month ago, he already knew you and what you were like.

"Sure." Bruce replied, a little flustered now he knew your true feelings towards him. He knew before but he was so scared that his rejection had changed them but the date on that chat was the exact same day that he was standing in and looking at you from. It made life a lot easier. He left the room and you let out a breath, glad that the feelings didn't make you act like an idiot around him.

You let Darcy finish your makeup and ignored the raised eyebrows she sent your way every time your eyes caught each other's gazes in the mirror. With that done, you put on the red dress that Pepper had picked out. She had picked out a knee-length tight red dress with long satin arms and a light red blazer to match. The belt was black with black heels to match. Jane had already been over and done your hair. She had taken a few strands from the front and plaited them around your head like a crown and threaded a few purple and red strings into smaller and thinner plaits in the hair left down. It was a lot more relaxed and comforting.

She had run off to the boys' end of the Tower after doing your hair to help Clint get Thor ready again. He reacted much better to the tie when she was there. She'd sent Nat as her replacement. Nat had fit seamlessly into their group, especially as she was with the others on the opinion that you and Bruce should be together. She loved joining in the teasing, telling you that he was perfect for you while you simply tried to hide the smirk. The bracelets were the same as yesterday but Darcy had insisted that she put on some foundation so that you looked great for the cameras.

"Thank you guys, I don't know what I would do without you." You smiled, looking at yourself in the mirror. You give them each a huge hug and start to help them get ready, the breakdown in Bruce's arms earlier, making you a lot more ready for the day.

"You seem happy today. What happened?" Pepper asked, astute as ever.

"Nothing special." You smirk, the thought of the morning making your smile all over again.

"FRIDAY, what happened?" Nat and Darcy asked at the same time. They were really becoming quite the same.

"Miss (L/N) broke down crying in Dr Banner's arms. Then he told her that he needed her." FRIDAY finished, making you stop and wave your arm horizontally, trying to stop their excited ramblings. They got the wrong idea almost instantly.

"Nonono, he said he needed me to be myself and that he knew I could finish the case. Not like that." You tell them quickly, trying to set the record straight.

"Oh come on!" Darcy moaned, causing you to laugh as you smiled at her.

"Sorry Darce, nothing happened. But if you want something to give you hope and then crush it again instantly…?" You offer, making her turn around with an intrigued look on her face. You let the curl go and spray it, making sure it would stay. The other girls looked at you as well, the same look on their faces. "Yesterday in the bathroom, I did kiss him," You tell them as they grin at each other. "But then I told him thanks for the memories." You finish, Darcy instantly understanding the reference.

"You didn't?" She asked in a huge gasp, referencing the dirtier parts of the song.

"Nope," You smile, dashing her hopes. "But I sure did mean the rest of it. I basically said bye." You tell them as they gasp again, disappointment filling them. Pepper and Nat weren't up to date on the newest songs but they sure were good with telling people no politely and 'thanks for the memories' was definitely one way of doing it. After a moment of silence, shouting filled the room.

"Why would you do that?"

"What is wrong with you?"

"Don't you like him anymore?"

They screeched at you and you couldn't help the bubble of laughter that escaped you. "Guys, I do like him but he doesn't like me. What's the point of chasing someone that doesn't like me?" You reason as they fall silent, trying to think of something to rally your words. "It's true isn't it?" You finish and they sigh.

"You don't know for sure." Pepper tried, ever the optimistic and hopeful.

"She's right, he could just be being an arse like all men." Darcy offered, all too eager to jump aboard the happy bandwagon.

"I don't think so. His rejection was pretty clear. So I'm going to move on, I might still like him but that doesn't mean I can't look for some other fish in the sea." You finish, taking a breath. You had come full circle and knew what you had to do. You couldn't wait around, if he had made it clear he didn't like you then you had to move on. Even if he was really cute.

"Well, as much as I hate the decision, I want to go with you. Why not find some better men?" Nat agreed, your conversation at the hospital haunting her ever since. She knew that you were right, that there was someone out there. You just had to find them. "Even if it's just for one night?" She winked, making everyone laugh.

"I've got someone." Pepper shrugged, making everyone sigh. "But I guess I can spare a drink or two. You know, just to bring the attention to our table." She joked as you let out a joking 'ooh', pretending it was a challenge.

"Oh honey, we won't need you to do that. We've got enough attention as it is. Get (Y/N) in a pretty dress and it's double the attention." Darcy laughed, joining them. They all grinned, so ready to go and have fun and forget what was going on in their love lives. "Jane's already got a prior engagement so I guess it's just us." Darcy added, all of them nudging each other at her 'prior engagement'.

"Let me guess, she wanted to spend as much time as she could with Thor before he went back to Asgard?" Pepper asked as all 4 ladies laughed together.

"Yup, and I'm not going to stop her. If the memories will stop her moping about for another 50 years then good for her." Darcy joked again, all 4 of them walking to the lobby. They were all ready and you were steady in the heels. Just like yesterday, you were taken away to some other land, looking at Bruce in his lab coat again. There was something so nostalgic and warm about seeing him in his lab coat. It felt like memories flooding back and honestly, to sum it up, it felt like home. But she couldn't tell anyone.

"Come on then." You tell them, all of you going into the car and making your way to the court room again. When you got in, you sat down again and waited for the jury to come in. It wasn't a long case, it took one more hour before they finished. The jury asked to walk out and decide the fate of Wanda Maximoff and you sat back, satisfied with thinking that you had done all you could.

"May I just say, (Y/N) (L/N) is not trustworthy." The Senator spoke as a last ditch attempt to change their minds.

"Oh no, you can't trust me. I'm just fighting for the Avengers, the most popular and loved team in the world. The most saleable and merchandisable product to ever come out of America. The most heroic people to have ever been born. The people who have saved the world. I'm just fighting for them, of course you can't trust me." You say sarcastically, rolling your eyes at him and remembering to address every single reason to be on Wanda's side just in case they hadn't heard.

"Of course, there are still points to consider-" He tried to say but you cut him off with great pleasure.

"Uh! A) You have had enough time to argue your points. And B) if anyone isn't trustworthy here, it's you. I bet you would even try to pay them off." You tell him in a disgusted voice. Before he could reply, you cut him off again. "And they have to go and talk amongst themselves. We no longer have any control over the situation." You remind him smugly, giving him a smirk.

"You damn f****** woman." He cursed, making you mock gasp before scoffing at him.

"Right back at you arsehole." You grin, making him sit back in his seat. The court room was now empty and you and Tony and Bruce all walked back out of the room, eager to get back to your friends. Tony and Bruce don't say anything until you are all out of his sight before they all start to laugh giddily, hugging each other.

"I take it that it went well then?" Pepper asked Tony, giving him a hug while you celebrated with the others. You went around, giving everyone a hug before getting to Bruce and faltering for a long enough moment to make it awkward but you still hugged him, holding him close before letting him go. You turned to everyone else and they all gave you the same look before stopping when you suggested what they all wanted to hear.

"Should we go eat while we're waiting?" You ask, trying to take the attention away from the scene a few moments ago.

"Sure, I'll pay." Tony told them as they all walked to the cafeteria. "What do you want Peps?" He asked, going to order for everyone as they all sat down at the table.

"I'll have pasta." She told him and Nat, Jane and Darcy all chimed in, wanting the same.

"Okay, 4 pasta pots. Clint?" Tony asked, mentally noting them down.

"Probably spaghetti." He shrugged and Steve joined him with that. Thor hadn't grown accustomed to every Earth food, especially since his obsession with one food at a time, hindered him to just that. So he asked for that as well and Tony made another mental note to order a lot of spaghetti.

"4 pasta pots and 4 spaghetti plates." He added, deciding that he wanted the same. He turned to you as you gnawed on your nail. You were confident a few moments ago but it was starting to worry you. What if you hadn't done enough? What if they still decided to throw Wanda out?

"Um, I'm going for a walk." You tell them, practically running off before they could do anything. You went out the back way, knowing that there were still a lot of reporters out front and didn't want to face until you were entirely sure. You walked alone for a few moments, trying to calm yourself down and take in the fresh air. Predictably, Bruce caught up to you, obviously having been sent by the team. "Hey Bruce." You smile, not even needing to look at him to know it was him.

"Hey." He stopped, seeing how tired you looked. "Wh-"

"Let me guess, why did you run off?" You interrupt, heaving out a sigh as you sit down on a bench.

"Well, yes and no." He told you, piquing your interest. "What's wrong was my first question. But then again, why did you run off is also a good question." He spoke casually, making you laugh.

"I don't know. I feel like I didn't do enough. That I should've stuck to what he taught me." You speak truthfully, leaning your head back and looking at the clouds.

"(Y/N), you wouldn't listen to me if I told you the truth so I won't. What I will tell you, is that sticking to what he beat into you would only have scared you more." He sternly spoke as you turned your head to look at him, barely believing him.

"How do you know?" You ask, needing further proof. Maybe it was the scientist in you but you thought it more likely that it was the doubting child.

"Because I know you." He finished as you laughed again, wondering how you ever got lucky enough to get to that position.

"What did I do to deserve you?" You mutter, sitting closer to him. He shook his head, smiling.

"What did **I** do to deserve **you**?" He corrected as you looked at him in confusion. You sat up again and watched him, trying to figure out if he was being sincere or not.

"We were made for each other. Two people with self-esteem issues and messy backgrounds, brought together by science." You joke, picking at your nails.

"When you put it like that…" He trailed off, making you look at him strangely. You smile before sitting up again.

"Bruce, why don't you want a relationship?" You ask, catching him off-guard.

"What?" He replied, not understanding.

"Not even just with me, you just won't consider anything. You just want the same thing, working in the lab every day and never to develop any attachments. How are you going to keep doing that?" You ask, not wanting him to feel awkward, but needing an answer before catching yourself. "No, it's fine. Just forget it, I'm sorry. I just run away when I feel scared and then try to turn things on other people. I'm sorry." You apologise, getting up quickly as she walked off.

"You've got a point though." Bruce agreed, walking beside her as they made their way back to their friends.

"I always do." You reply, both of you walking back in silence. You got outside and were about to enter when you both realised you'd made a fatal error and stood outside the doors before being jumped by a photographer.

"Are you two together? Did you go on a date?" He began to shout as you put your hands up to cover your face, shock and fear taking over. Bruce had dealt with this and quickly went to the door, trying to open it before realising that it was locked. "How do you feel about your family in England (Y/N)?" He shouted, making you freeze on the spot as you gasped, horror on your face as you turned away.

"Oh my God." You whispered, tears pooling in your eyes as you looked at the floor. "They know." You tell yourself as you try to keep calm. "How much do they know?" You suddenly ask, knowing that it could get worse for you.

"Answer the questions!" He ordered as you put your head in your hands, shrinking away as the reporter carried on clicking away on his camera.

"No!" Bruce shouted back before his hand tightened around the handle of the door. You were still trying to shrink away when you saw Bruce's veins popping and green flooding through them.

"Bruce, calm down." You tell him quickly, wiping away a few tears that had fallen. "I'm sorry, it's all okay. Don't worry." You try to reassure as you take shaky breaths. "I'll call Tony, we'll sort this out." You tell him, quickly pulling out your phone as you dialled Tony's number, mentally cursing yourself for walking away and getting you and Bruce into this situation. He picked up at the 3rd ring and you let out a sigh of relief. "Tony, I need your help." You tell him before he could even say hello.

"What's wrong?" He asked, and you could hear the serious tone in his voice as he walked away from the table.

"Bruce is hulking out and there is a reporter trying to corner us." You spoke, giving him a quick summary as Bruce tried to keep his breathing even and get it to a normal level. "The door is locked, come open it." You order him, hanging up as you put the phone away and moved closer to Bruce. "Bruce, look at me. Forget the door, Tony's coming. Just keep breathing, forget the reporter." You tell him, gently prising his hand away from the door as he grits his teeth, fists clenched.

"He knows about your family. He could ruin your image." He told you, wondering how you could be so calm about it.

"I know. But I don't care. He's an arsehole and he's going to get what's coming to him. We just have to be patient until we can." You whisper, grinning at him with a mischievous glint in your eye. It could've easily been the shine of tears but it wasn't. He just knew it wasn't. Bruce just laughed, smiling back at you and the green went, neither of you even bothering to notice.

"Oh hey guys, fighting off another arsehole?" Tony asked, greeting them quickly as he opened the door. He didn't give them a chance to reply as they stood to the side and he brought out a hand with was covered in Iron Man armour. "Want to run?" He asked and the reporter instantly stopped taking pictures and nodded, holding his hands up.

"Sorry, that's not an option." Nat whispered from behind him before kicking him in the back and pinning him to the floor with her heel.

"Told you." You spoke quietly to Bruce as you stood back before shrugging and walking over to him. "I'll take that thank you." You tell him, bending down to look him in the eyes as you plucked the camera out of his grip. "Ooh, it looks nice. Sorry." You smile shortly, giving him one look before smashing the camera on the floor much to his dismay. Just to rub it in his face, you found the SD card in the remnants and picked it up, before dropping it on the floor and using your heel to crush it.

"That was cold (Y/N)." Tony whistled from behind you as you turn to him with a nonchalant grin.

"He deserved it." You reply before walking away to Bruce and winking at him as you both made it back to the cafeteria.

"What happened (Y/N)? Apparently there was an arsehole of a reporter." Darcy asked as soon as she saw you two coming.

"Well you're not wrong about that." You joke with a small laugh, shaking your head. The ordeal was tiring and you really couldn't be bothered with it all.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, noticing how withdrawn you were being.

"Fine. The interview just shook me." You tell him cryptically as he nodded, leaving it alone. Bruce watched you with a concerned look and you squeezed his hand to reassure him. He then squeezed it in return to reassure you and you grinned, all of you sitting back down as Darcy made a joke and got the conversation going again. You and Bruce kept holding hands, not trying to be indiscreet but just comfortable as you put your hands on the table together and finished your food reluctantly.

"Did you guys hear about Fury?" Darcy asked as she looked at Jane with a grin. "Apparently he has a wife!" She laughed as Jane joined in, you sitting there with a grin at the mental image of Fury with a wife and possibly children. He still looked grumpy as ever and it just made it even better.

"I don't think that's true." Steve corrected gently as Darcy shrugged.

"Probably, but can you imagine? He's just such a grumpy guy all the time, being around children would just depress him more." Darcy joked you gasped, having thought of the same thing. She looked at you with a nod and you both spoke incoherent words, grins on your faces as you high-fived. The men all looked at each other with confused as Jane shook her head with a smirk.

"What did you say?" Steve asked, everyone else rushing to stop him but all letting out a unanimous groan as he finished. He looked at them with slight fear as they all put their heads in their hands or on the table.

"Aw, he's such a noob. Don't worry young padawan, there is much to learn but I can teach you." Darcy told him jokingly as you laughed. "What? He has a God, I've got to compete somehow." She shrugged and winked at the girls, making you laugh harder. Steve instantly started blushing and Clint looked at them in complete horror.

"You may need to watch out my friend, Lady Darcy has a way of getting what she wants." Thor joked, nudging Steve on the shoulder as he smirked.

"No! You can't take him from us! We need him to stay away from you girls!" He protested, taking Steve by the shoulders possessively as the super soldier simply sat there with a confused look on his red face.

"You've already been taken by Laura so you can't talk Clint." You point out as he stops for a moment before shrugging, knowing it was true.

"Do not ask me my friends, I am already taken by the Lady Jane." Thor protested instantly, putting his hands up and putting it on Jane's who smiled and linked her arm with Thor's.

"It's true." She nodded and Clint looked around for any other single man.

"Tony's got Pepper." He sighed, rolling his eyes comically.

"Where is Pepper by the way?" You ask, looking around as you realise she was gone.

"As soon as she heard there was trouble outside, she stormed off angrily with her phone." Darcy replied as your eyes widened and you pulled a sorry face.

"No! It's true! The Avengers has been dominated by women! They have complete control!" Clint gasped, finished with his checklist as he dramatically moved away from the women in horror. "Steve, you're the last survivor! Stay strong." He stage whispered as if it was the apocalypse.

"What about Dr Banner?" Steve pointed out and they all turned to look at Bruce who was flicking through notes with one hand, the other entwined with yours.

"Do I really need to say?" Clint asked and they all laughed. But then Bruce looked up, completely lost as he was brought back into the real world.

"What?" He asked and they all started to laugh harder as you smirked, squeezing his hand.

"Don't worry, they're just pairing me and you up again. Nothing new." You tell him as he turns to look at you. As you tell him what happened, he goes red and you bite your lip, trying to gauge his reaction. What was that? What did it mean?

"Hey, why don't you show us how old it is?" Darcy suggested, looking at you as you turn to Bruce before shrugging.

"Sure." You tell them confidently, bringing Bruce in for a kiss as your lips meet. His shock is obvious as he freezes but soon forgets and kisses you back. You had kissed before, it wasn't new was it? You tried to tell yourself how it was normal and people did it but you couldn't help the butterflies beating in your stomach as you felt like a schoolgirl with Bruce. You had kissed Bruce before, but never like this. You couldn't tell what it was, but something was different. It felt fresh, new and exciting. It was like you were just meeting for the first time. You can distantly hear the whooping of your friends and your smile breaks the kiss as you pull away. "Sorry." You apologise but before he can say anything, the voices of your friends tear you away from him.

"Whoo! Yes (Y/N)! Go for it!" Darcy encourages before giggling and moving away as you half-heartedly swat at her clapping hands.

"That was most passionate Lady (Y/N)." Thor smirked as he watched you go red and you tried not to grin as you let out a small laugh.

"Why thank you Thor." You tell him sarcastically as everyone on the table starts to laugh. "Wait, I think we're going back." You speak up, breaking the mood as you look up and listen to the announcement.

"Could case 40 please adjourn in the court room for the final result?" The voice asked.

"Here goes nothing." You grin nervously, letting out a sigh of relief as you get up, everyone following you. Bruce lagged behind slightly, still flustered over the kiss. They get to the court room and enter, smoothing down their dress and making sure they looked perfect.

"Thank you for joining us." One member of the jury nodded at them both as Firm and his team stood on one side while the Avengers and friends stood on the other with you at the front.

"We have discussed over this multiple times and have come to a decision that is best for the entire country." Another spoke, your heart beating out of your chest as you tried to keep calm. You then felt a hand take yours and recognised it as Bruce's. You kept your gaze focused on the jury but gripped his hand tightly, glad he was there for you.

"We request that the cell to contain Wanda Maximoff be made and only used as a last resort." The first one told them, emphasising the 'last resort' part and you let out a small sigh of relief.

"But for the foreseeable future, Wanda Maximoff is an American citizen and shall be treated as such. This is our final decision and we hope it is for the best." They finish and you and the Avengers all let out a huge sigh of relief.

"It **is** for the best, thank you." You grin as you shake their hands before turning back to the others with a happy squeal. You jump into Bruce's arms, letting him spin you around as you celebrate together. He then puts you down and you find yourself inches away from his face. "Hey." You breathe, your heeled feet being placed back on the ground. You look at him and all background noise fades out, the cheering of the Avengers and the voice inside your head fades out. Even the voices of Senator Firm and the jury members arguing in the back fade out and you only see Bruce.

"Hey (Y/N)! Let's go celebrate!" Darcy yelled, breaking you out of it as you turn around and Bruce's arms leave your waist. He moves away, out of your sight and you are surprised to see the tears pooling in your eyes and the sniffing that you suddenly find yourself doing. "Come on (Y/N)!" Darcy spoke again, pulling you along as you quickly try to blink the tears back and pretend you are okay.

"Sure." You whisper, letting yourself be moved by them as you try to look around and find Bruce, even just to see him but find nothing. You all walk into the reception again, metres away from the door. "Wait, aren't there reporters outside?" You stop them, turning to the windows and seeing lights flashing already.

"Oh yeah, (Y/N), you're going to have to be strong. Just tell them you won the case and refer any further questions to Pepper." Tony told you, taking your shoulders as you nod, smiling at Pepper who stands supportively next to Tony. The others around you all start to nod their assent, placing their hands on your shoulders and instead of a heavy weight, you feel fulfilled except for one more hand. Not even that, your lips are still tingling and you wish you could at least see Bruce but he seemed to be nowhere. But before you know it, a hand takes yours again and you see the very scientist you were trying to find standing right there. However, before you can interrogate, the doors open to reveal a horde of reporters and Happy and Steve immediately get to work.

"(Y/N)! What happened? Did you win the case?" The questions came, all hitting you instantly and you try to seem calm and collected as you sniff.

"Hello everybody. I would like to happily announce that Wanda Maximoff is now a credited citizen of America. The case was won and any further questions should be forwarded to Pepper Potts who will take care of it." You tell them, a forced smile on your face.

"What about you and Dr Banner? Are you in love?" More questions came and you froze, turning to Bruce who smiled. You knew to say no because of course you and Bruce were messed up as always but you froze, not able to say anything. You waited for him to say it instead and hoped they wouldn't notice your linked hands for support. A moment stretched into eternity as you waited for an answer.

"Yes."

11


	20. Book 2: Chapter 7

Bruce Confession AU Chapter 20:

You turned to Bruce with wide eyes as you heard his reply. "Um, all questions forwarded to Pepper Potts." You say, repeating the only thing you could think of like a broken record before slightly coming to your senses. "Yes?" You question in a small whisper, leaning towards him as you tried to be indiscreet. The press bombarded you with questions the moment he confessed his love.

"Yes." He confirmed as you both slipped into the car with the Avengers, all of you trying to run away from the press.

"Yes? Yes?" Tony repeated like a broken record as both Bruce and you sat in the car.

"Tony! Maybe give them a bit of privacy?" Pepper suggested with her hard stares. It was one of her favourite things to do because it always got Tony back under control.

"Fine, but they're coming as well." Tony conditioned, pointing at the rest of the Avengers as you looked down at your hands, nervously playing with your fingers.

"Since when do you speak for us?" Natasha asked, crossing her arms as she stared at Tony.

"Since you became my employee," Pepper spoke firmly as they moved towards the back of the limo and cut off their piece of the limo. Bruce and you were alone and your heart was beating out of your chest.

"So um, yes?" You challenged as he looked up and met your eyes.

"Um, maybe this isn't the time but (Y/N), I think I love you." He revealed as your mouth hung open.

"Bruce, I think I love you too." You say, nodding as you scoot over to him. "But in front of the press?" You ask, making you both laugh as you watch him carefully. Life had been so crazy lately and part of you simply didn't believe that he loved you. He'd denied it at Clint's house but then he'd told you that he thought of you as something more when you were at Liv's house. Your relationship had been so rocky since Ultron and that fateful party. Part of you just didn't believe that he was telling the truth.

"I know, not a good move." He agreed, a smile on his lips.

"At least we won't be the ones clearing it up." You appeal as you both laugh again. Bruce doesn't reply, just leans in and instead of reciprocating, you move back. "Uh-" You say, stopping him with a hand on his chest as you feel the doubt inside.

"What's wrong?" He asks and you bite your lip, trying to think it all through properly. "(Y/N)?" He spoke fearfully, putting a hand on your cheek.

"Bruce, I'm confused." You tell him truthfully. "You tell me you don't want a relationship and then you say you do and now you just told everyone you love me. I just don't know what to think." You finish, looking away. You only receive silence and wonder if you've finally done it. If you've completely ruined your chances. It was just hard for you to fully believe he was being truthful after so much drama in only a matter of months. "I'm sorry, it's just… hard to believe." You add, finishing with a swallow. Your throat felt like it was closing up and you couldn't meet his gaze.

"(Y/N)," Bruce began, turning your face to look at him again as you try to blink back tears. You had no idea where they came from but they came and your heart thudded in your chest. "I know I haven't done this properly. I know I've hurt you, and I'm sorry. But this is real. Believe me, I love you." He pleaded as you close your eyes, taking in his words. You swallowed the meaning, realising that he wasn't lying. It was the opposite. He truly loved you and you were sitting inches away from his face. A smile sneaked its way onto your face and you open your eyes, leaning in. But he stopped this time, taking you by surprise.

"Bruce?" You ask, no doubt in your mind, just confusion. That doubt had been squashed with his caring words.

"You know what? I really haven't done this right." He realised as you smiled at him.

"Glad you finally realised." You laughed as he took your hand and scooted back to take in your entire face. You raise an eyebrow and he grinned at you.

"(Y/N), I have really messed things up. But I love you, I promise it's true. So, would you consider a date?" He asked, shocking you as your eyes widened and you grinned at him.

"Sure, why not? I'm free tonight?" You offer, both of you using this opportunity as a fresh start. The past would be left behind and your relationship would start anew from that day.

"That would be great. I'm free anytime." He nodded as you both sat there together in a hug. You didn't lift the screen separating you two and the others, just letting it stay that way as you sat. Only when the car stopped and you both stepped out hand in hand did you see the others and judging by the way they all smirked at you, they obviously thought that you had gone the extra mile. Pepper took care of the extra reporters at the Tower, thinking that they could get something the others couldn't.

"So, what happened?" Nat asked, pulling you away and down the corridor, before you, all saw Wanda standing there.

"Yeah, tell me what happened (Y/N)." She asked, crossing her arms as the Avengers all came up behind the two and stopping when they saw the angry superhuman.

"Hey, Wanda." You smile awkwardly, trying to diffuse some of the tension. "Um, so basically, they were trying to prosecute you but I stopped them. That alright?" You asked, being quite informal as you walked up to her. Wanda glared at you for a moment before rolling her eyes and giving you a hug. "So I'm guessing it is alright?" You ask warily as she pulls away and pursed her lips at you.

"Well it's not alright that I had to find out about it through the newspapers, but fine. It wasn't your fault." She conceded as you grinned, pulling her in for another hug. "But I did see something else on the news." She hinted, looking at you and then Bruce behind you. "Care to explain?" She asked and you opened your mouth with no words actually forming.

"Cat got your tongue?" A voice you knew all too well spoke from the shadows and Liv walked out with Jason and the entire family standing there.

"Sorta." You laugh, giving her a big hug and greeting everyone. "Hey Harry, what's up?" You ask, picking him up and balancing him on your hip.

"Nothing much Auntie (Y/N). Mum got worried so we came to see you. The flight was kind of long but it didn't matter because Auntie Pepper and Uncle Tony got the pilot to show us everything. We went to VIP!" He spoke excitedly as you turned around to 'Uncle Tony and Auntie Pepper' who were beaming with pride and laugh.

"Did you thank them?" You challenge with a mock stern tone.

"Thank you!" He called over your shoulder and everyone starts to laugh.

"You're welcome kiddo." Tony smiled happily, Pepper taking him from you as you then turn to Jason and give him a hug, careful of Mariana.

"Hey there, remember me?" You whisper, kissing her on the head as she sleeps. "So Wanda, what reason did you have for bringing my family to America?" You ask, turning to the woman who was happily reuniting with Harry.

"It wasn't her. I have independent thought and I got worried about my idiot of a sister. Especially when she doesn't tell me anything and I find out she's off busy being a lawyer?" Liv asked jokingly but with darker undertones. You knew that she knew. She had been there throughout your childhood, she knew it all. Which was precisely why you didn't tell her.

"Sorry?" You ask and she scoffs, partly dismissing it as she talks with the rest of the Avengers. You take Mariana and are about to slip off quietly to the side when Clint stops you.

"And where do you think you're going?" He asks in his best impression of Laura and you turn around with a laugh.

"To put Mariana to bed?" You question and he shakes his head, taking her from you.

"I can do that, you have some questions to answer. And so does Bruce." He harrumphs, walking off with Mariana. You look around to see everyone looking at you and Bruce.

"Come on girls, we have an interrogation to begin." Darcy starts, all of the girls pulling you away as you turn back to Bruce and jokingly mouth 'help'. The girls take you to the biggest bedroom and you all have showers and refresh yourselves before sitting down in your pyjamas. It was effectively a sleepover and you sigh as you are sat down with your tangled and wet bun sitting on top of your head.

"So?" Jane asked, the scientist watching you with crossed arms.

"So?" You reply, pretending to be innocent.

"Don't act all cutesy with us. It may work with Bruce but not with us." Darcy tells you and Liv nods beside her, both of them high-fiving each other.

"Now, what happened? Did you go the extra mile? Don't worry, we won't tell anyone." Natasha coaxed in a fake sweet voice as they suddenly turned a lamp on you and you brought the pillow in front of your face, trying to block out the light.

"I'm not saying a word." You reply, miming zipping your lips as Pepper yanks the pillow from your hands and throws it to the other side of the room.

"I think you'll find you are, or the hair gets it." Liv threatened, pulling out some scissors and miming chopping your hair off.

"Okay, can I just make some hot chocolate first?" You ask, practically running out of the room as you try to get away from the crazy women. You get to the kitchen to see a purple man with a cape and leotard standing there. "Hello?" You ask hesitantly and he turns around to reveal a rose-gold stone in his head.

"Hello, Miss (L/N)." He greets politely. "I am Vision. You may not know me that well as you were not there for my creation or introduction. It is a pleasure to meet you." He speaks with a British accent and you smirk, holding out a hand.

"So you're the guy whose Wanda's equal in strength?" You question, remembering Bruce's point in court and how it referenced an android called Vision.

"It is certainly possible, however, nothing is confirmed as my powers have not been fully tested." He replied calmly as you nod with a smile.

"Oh okay. That makes sense." You tell him as you take him in. He is certainly an interesting individual. You can't tear your eyes away from him until Bruce walks in.

"Oh sorry, did I interrupt something?" He asked sarcastically as you turn to him and laugh.

"Yes, I forgot to say, me and Vision are a thing." You joke, moving close to the Android and place a hand on his chest and try not to look too shocked at how strong he is.

"Um, I am sorry to say I was not informed of this." Vision tried to defend, looking at you warily as you laugh, putting your head on his chest. You take a step back and he walks away quickly and you go to start making hot chocolate like you were going to.

"So how is your interrogation?" You ask, both of you comfortably making hot chocolate for yourselves.

"It's at the buttering-up stage. They're offering me alcohol and playing games. They're just waiting until they can get me to spill everything." Bruce laughed as you nod, all too familiar with that stage. "You?" He asks and you laugh in return.

"Are you joking me? Straight in there with the lamp and intrusive questions. They're not holding back at all." You roll your eyes as Bruce smirks at your situation. "What? It's not funny! You try having a lamp burning your eyes!" You defend as his smile dissolves into laughter and you grin in spite of yourself.

"It's not that." He told you as he turned to you.

"So what is it?" You reply, raising an eyebrow when a hand wraps itself around your waist.

"You look pretty good in those clothes." He smirked again and you laugh at his words.

"In my pyjamas?" You question before kissing him. You both relish knowing for sure how you feel about each other. Neither of you had to run away when you pulled away. You didn't have to apologise or pretend it didn't happen. You could just enjoy the freedom you had and not hold anything back around each other.

"Well, you definitely look better now." He joked as his hand accidentally undid the clip holding your hair up and the tangled mess of hair falls into a ponytail around your head.

"Good luck." You say as a parting word, picking up your hot chocolate and sipping from it gently.

"Sounds like you'll need it more than me." He laughed as you roll your eyes good-naturedly at him. You walk back to the room slowly, thinking on what has just happened. Maybe it was an over-exaggeration but at that moment, you felt like everything had just fallen into place. You couldn't think of anything else that needed fixing or that was wrong. Okay, that might have been a lie but there was always something wrong in your life. You just tried to focus on the good. You walked back into the room and they all stopped talking instantly. You sigh, sitting back down and gently sipping from your hot chocolate every now and then to look at them as they smirk.

"So, now that we've come to our senses…" Darcy started, looking slightly sheepish.

"We've realised that we were maybe a little harsh." Jane stated bluntly as you raised an eyebrow, not really believing their 'sincere' words.

"We basically realised that shining a lamp in your face won't work." Liv sighed, rolling her eyes.

"So what is your new tactic?" You ask, laughing as you look at your sister's defeated face.

"Nothing. We're not going to push you at all, we'll just wait until you actually want to talk about it." Pepper replied calmly, regaining her sense of responsibility as she smiled kindly, regretting her earlier actions of grabbing the pillow you'd tried to use to defend your eyes.

"Right." You said slowly, still not convinced.

"We promise we won't do anything. You can take your time." Natasha reluctantly repented.

"Okay. So who wants to go first? We'll take turns with the nail varnish." Wanda asked, lifting the mood as everyone chose their colours. There was a bit of tension over who got the red but Natasha won and then shared it with Liv who gave her the puppy dog look while Darcy got orange and Jane got blue. Pepper managed to snatch the light pink which almost look neutral against her nails while Wanda got the smoky teal. You just finished with whatever was left and took the purple. Everyone was trying something new and you thought you'd do the same. As you started to paint, Natasha started the conversation up again.

"So Liv, how's the marriage?" She asked and Liv laughed, working on Nat's nails.

"Well, you can see how fun it is. We got Mariana as a result of too much fun." She winked as everyone mock groaned, not wanting too many details.

"TMI!" You screamed, planting your face in the pillow as you tried to stop the thoughts.

"Alright, fine." Liv laughed, rolling her eyes at their immaturity. "But Jason's really sweet. I still love him after all these years which is something right?" She joked and they all smiled at her, glad she was still happy. "What about you Pepper? How's Tony?" They all laughed as she grinned.

"He's doing well. I don't hate him yet." They all laughed with her, knowing that Pepper and Tony had a love/hate relationship but the balance was more 80 or 90% love than hate. Even when she was angry at him, it was only because she cared. "But guess what?" She asked and they all stopped, listening in. "He's giving up the alcohol for me. He said he wants to make it through to our wedding day." She told them and everyone let out an 'aww' at the thought, finding it sweet.

"What did you say?" Darcy asked, knowing that Pepper always had a comeback.

"I told him he'd have to make it through the three thousand days he had to wait." She smirked before melting again. "Then he said that 8 years was nothing if he could still see me every day." Pepper grinned, not able to hold it back as she pressed her lips together. "Then he ruined the moment by starting to talk about how it was give or take a few days and doing the calculations in his head." Pepper finished with a slightly defeated sigh as all the other girls laughed.

"He wouldn't be Tony if he didn't." Natasha rolled her eyes, having had to deal with the moron for so many years she'd lost count.

"But what about you Jane?" You asked before Darcy could shut you up and her mouth opened before falling when you'd said it.

"Did you really have to ask? She's going to go off on one again now about how 'he's always away and it's so sad!'" Darcy mocked in a high-pitched voice as Jane hit her with a pillow. Darcy let out a yell as she almost dropped her nail varnish before screwing the lid back on and turning to Jane with a gasp. "Oh, you're done for now!" Darcy grinned, picking up another pillow as all the other girls quickly screwed the lids back onto their nail varnish and putting it back into the box before arming themselves. "FIGHT!" Darcy screamed and the brutality began. Polyester hit faces and the women fell. Not all made it through standing up and unscathed. Polish was smeared, hair came undone and shoes were kicked off. It was only when FRIDAY stepped in that they took a break.

"Sorry to interrupt, but the boys would like to come in." She reported as they all stopped before taking one look at each other and grinning, positioning themselves silently.

"Sure, let them come in." You smile once everyone had situated themselves. There was tense silence before the door creaked and the boys all walked in, unsuspecting victims.

"FIGHT!" They all screamed as they pounced and the battle began again. The boys all yelled and fights broke out between them. Liv attacked Jason while FRIDAY put a protective wall around Mariana. Liv protected Harry who stood by the girls and was cheered loudly for his loyalty to his mother. Tony fell almost instantly, Pepper viciously letting rip. Clint and Bruce were taken down by you and Natasha as you jumped from the bed, getting height. Bruce caught you as you fell on top of him and grinned as your pillow fell from your hands. You gasped as you saw what he had in mind and squealed as he began to tickle you while Clint restrained Natasha from rushing to your aid.

Jane attacked Thor who was more baffled as to why he was being hit by a pillow which wouldn't even hurt him. Jane could barely make a dent before Wanda used her powers to make the pillow much harder as Thor called his hammer to him and began to fight a pillow as Jane and Wanda burst into laughter repeatedly as he looked genuinely frightened of this magical pillow. Vision had joined him in the fight, trying to zap it but ending up hitting the wall as Wanda moved it every time. Darcy had gone for Steve who was familiar with a pillow fight but had not expected one and fell like Tony with Darcy falling on top of him. She still attacked him from the floor and Steve managed to grab your pillow, hoping to protect himself as Darcy giggled with glee as she hit him repeatedly.

The fight was joyous and lasted until Tony finally screamed for it to stop from the floor. Pepper was relentless and he had finally given up on any rescue. When he looked up, he saw that everyone had fallen except Jason. Thor had finally been beaten by the magical pillows and was lying on the floor, staring at them above him with terror in his eyes as Clint lay next to him, Natasha putting him on his back with a pillow on his face. She wasn't properly choking him, just applying a 'little' pressure. Steve had fallen, Harry had joined the dark side and Steve was still trying to protect himself from Darcy.

Only Jason remained standing upright as he fought with Liv and Harry. "How the hell-?" Tony yelled before cutting himself off. Jason simply laughed and caught Liv's pillow, stopping it from hitting him again and picking her up off the ground so she couldn't retaliate or didn't want to.

"Trust me, this is not the first time this has happened." He laughed as everyone got up, a cheery mood being restored to the room.

"All hail the pillow fight master!" Clint dramatized, crawling to Jason's fight and pretending to worship him. All the men began to and Jason put Liv down as Thor got up and put a hand out.

"You are clearly a very strong man to fight against the pillows. Even I couldn't beat them." He admired as Wanda and Jane snorted with laughter in the background. "You are maybe even worthy of wielding Mjolnir." He wondered and everyone became to repeat their 'no's' when Vision took it out of his hands and shook his head.

"Maybe not a wise idea Thor." He advised as Thor nodded, taking it again.

"Yes, it might not end so well." Thor realised, flipping Mjolnir in his hands. "You probably couldn't even lift it anyway." He dismissed with a laugh as Tony and Clint rolled their eyes, remembering when they tried and miserably failed. You grinned, remembering the highlights of that evening perfectly.

"Darcy, do you need a hand?" You ask, just noticing the intern on the floor, quite close to a certain super soldier.

"What? No, I'm fine." She dismissed, quickly getting up and off Steve who was blushing. She held out a hand to him and pulled him up, both of them going a certain shade of red as you smirked.

"Yeah, you two look fine. A bit red but fine." You tell them, pressing your lips together as you try to hold in the laughter which was bubbling up inside you. Darcy glared daggers at you as Steve went even redder.

"So, why did you even come in?" Pepper asked, trying to change the conversation as everyone raised an eyebrow at the two.

"We just came to check if you wanted some chocolate." Vision spoke up as you gasped with joy, suddenly realising how ravenous you were after barely eating all day.

"YES!" The girls yelled happily, the mood lifting almost instantly.

"Where did it all come from? I never saw it this morning." You ask as everyone trooped to the kitchen to take their shares.

"Um, I ordered it. As a celebration gift." Tony spoke as he passed the bars around and your eyebrows furrowed.

"But how did you know that we would win the case? You didn't bribe him-?"

"No, what do you take me for?" Tony asked, slightly offended as you let out a breath of relief, giving him a smile as you laughed. "No, I ordered it this morning. I knew you would win it for us." He shrugged, trying to appeal to your better nature.

"Aw, thanks, Tony." You grin, giving him a huge hug as you take two bars of chocolate.

"But we've got to talk later." He whispered, a serious look in his eyes as your heart skipped a beat, having a feeling that you knew what he was talking about. Your voice runs away and you can only find it in yourself to nod and give him a brief smile as you all walk away. The boys say goodbye to the girls as everyone piles back into their rooms and settle down again, individual conversations dying.

"So, Darcy. What was that?" Natasha began as she let Liv paint her nails before trying to take off the smeared nail varnish on her own nails.

"What was what?" Darcy asked, feigning innocence before going red as she realised. "Oh, that."

"Yeah, that." Both you and Jane spoke at the same time, leaning against pillows as you used the nail varnish remover together.

"I was just trying to win the pillow fight." She defended, avoiding their gazes as she looked down.

"Oh really?" Liv asked, pursing her lips with a smirk.

"Yeah really. Seriously, girls, you see romance in everything." She laughed nervously as they all raised eyebrows at each other, not believing her for one second.

"Even if you didn't, I'm pretty sure he did," Wanda replied, speaking for them all.

"Oh come on, it was a pillow fight!" She defended, going very red.

"Yeah, but he hasn't had a girl that close since 1945. You haven't got much competition." Pepper laughed as they all nodded, knowing it was true. Darcy seemed to think about it before rolling her eyes and scoffing, moving on.

"Anyway, what about Jane? Let's go back to her." She spoke, changing the subject as everyone grinned. It was obvious, especially when she moved on to Jane. She had been mocking her before and now, she'd rather hear her talk than talk about Steve.

"Fine, let's let her wallow in denial." You quip, rolling your eyes comically as you look at Jane. "How's Thor?" You ask and Jane sighed.

"Darcy's right." She began as everyone edged closer, getting ready to comfort her if needed. "He's perfect. He's so romantic and he always has the patience to teach me about the realms but whenever he has to go, it just makes me wonder if he might ever forget me and just stay on Asgard. He could easily find a goddess on Asgard and stay with her. It would be much easier for him." She reasoned as everyone felt pity for the scientist.

"Of course he wouldn't. He came back when the Dark Elves came, he'll come back whenever you need him." Wanda whispered, smiling supportively as she wrapped a comforting arm around her.

"And if he doesn't, we'll kick his arse." You grin, cheering her up slightly as she laughed, taking tissues from Pepper's hands.

"What about you Nat? Anything less depressing?" Jane joked as the Russian super-spy smirked, nudging her before shrugging her shoulders.

"Not really. I haven't met anyone yet. The job doesn't really call for it." She sighed as everyone sighed with her, feeling her pain.

"Ask Fury for another mission, meet a fireman or something. At least, someone, you can talk to." Liv suggested, ever the hopeless romantic.

"Like that's going to work." Wanda critiqued as you high-fived her, not really believing the rom-com.

"Hey, you never know!" Pepper defended, hoping Liv was right.

"And you're one to talk Miss Red Power." Darcy retorted, raising an eyebrow as she came up with a nickname on the spot.

"Yeah, isn't there a humanoid robot out there with your name on it?" Jane challenged, everyone, turning to look at her as she blushed.

"Ooh, she's going as red as her powers." Natasha laughed as everyone joined in, starting to whoop and cheer for her as she laughed, trying to play it off as nothing as she tucked hair behind her ear.

"Vision barely knows what a relationship is." She rolled her eyes as everyone laughed.

"So teach him!" Liv exclaimed, seeing an opportunity for a rom-com and taking it.

"Oh yeah! That'd be so cute and he already likes you, maybe he'll finally say something!" Darcy joined in, both women grinning at each other, bonded by their shared love of romance.

"Okay, you crazy women. Let's move on." Wanda tried to tell them, hiding her blush behind her hair as she took a breath. "What about (Y/N)?" She offered and you smirk.

"I thought you said that you were going to let me tell you myself?" You challenge as you cross your arms, waiting for the reply.

"Yeah, but it gets boring. You're what we're here for." Natasha pointed out as you laugh, before relenting. What was the harm? You'd made them suffer long enough.

"Fine." You smile and they all gasp in delight, moving closer and closer to listen in properly. "So, he said he loves me in front of the cameras," You begin and Pepper chimes in with one of her always perfectly timed remarks.

"Yeah, thanks for that by the way." She rolled her eyes and you laugh.

"Sorry, Peps." You apologise quickly before carrying on with your story. "And I say that they can forward all questions to Pepper again because I have no idea what else to say. Sorry, Peps." You apologise again, making everyone laugh as Pepper dramatically rolls her eyes and mimics a heavy weight on her shoulders. "Then we get inside the car and Pepper gives us some privacy by calling you all off. Thanks, Peps." You smile as everyone starts to laugh louder.

"I am the saviour of your relationship aren't I?" She asked and you grin, giving her a hug as the good mood increases.

"Of course you are. What would I do without you?" You ask, rolling your eyes behind her back. "Anyway, moving on," You say quickly as you pull away, winking at Liv behind Pepper. "I asked him what he meant and he said he loves me." You tell them and gasping comes from every girl. "I said it too." You reveal and they gasp even louder. "Alright, calm down!" You tell them as they start to squeal and tap you on your shoulder. Their tapping slowly got harder as they got even more excited, the day they'd dreamed of for years finally coming. "Are you trying to break my shoulder or something?" You ask, taking your shoulder in your hand, rolling your eyes.

"I mean, if you can't handle that, you might have a heart attack when you hear what comes next." You tell them, reeling back a bit as you wonder if you should even say it. You manage to grab all their attention with that sentence and they went silent. "Well, he tried to kiss me." The use of 'tried' didn't go unnoticed as they all raised an eyebrow. "I stopped him." You clarify as they all suddenly get angry, chucking their pillows at you. You scream, buried under the pillows as you fall to the floor.

"You idiot!" Liv shouted, keeping the pillow against your face as you wave your arms about, accidentally slapping her face instead. In her shock, she pulled the pillow away and you realise what you did.

"Don't kill me!" You squeal, hiding back under the pillow as the others restrain her. They sit her back down firmly as she glares at you. "Heh." You manage as she crosses her arms.

"You were saying?" Wanda prompted as you smile.

"I asked him if he really loved me," You could feel everyone hold their breath at this. "And he said he knows he messed up," You pause as everyone purposely raised an eyebrow, harrumphing as they looked at you. They all knew the pain and heartbreak he had caused you and in turn, them. "But he really does love me." You reassure and they all sit with a satisfied smirk on their face.

"He better." Jane scoffed, having been informed of the entire tale.

"And then I was about to kiss him but he stopped me."

"Are you joking me? Do you actually kiss in this story?" Darcy asked in annoyance.

"Calm down!" You roll your eyes. "Then he gets down on one knee and takes my hands." You say, Nat, interrupting you.

"You're not getting married are you?" She gasped and you sigh, putting your head in your hands.

"Am I ever going to finish this story?" You ask and they laugh, shushing each other.

"The Queen is talking, we need to be quiet." Wanda mocked as you roll your eyes.

"Anyway, he said sorry and asked me on a date. I said yes." You finish, pressing your lips together to try and suppress a smile as you hear gasps from all around you again.

"And then you kiss?" Darcy asked eagerly, inciting laughter from all around.

"No, we don't actually kiss. We just cuddled the entire ride." You giggle, melting at the thought. All of them roll their eyes, muttering about how it wasn't as satisfying like that except for Liv who crawled through them and gave you a hug.

"I'm glad you didn't. I know you have before, but at least he didn't push you. Wait until you're both ready, then make it special and just as good as the others but without the secrecy. Trust me, it will always feel special if its right." She advised as she hugged you, both of you almost in tears.

"Thanks, Liv." You whisper in return, trying to blink back the burning water. Everyone was silenced by the words, coming to their senses and just supporting you endlessly without the expectations.

"Hey, who else is just glad (Y/N) and Bruce are finally together?" Natasha asked, raising a hand and everyone put their own up.

"So am I." You agree, holding your hand up as well. The rest of the night was just spent in laughter, having fun and complying with the occasional joke and question about your relationship. Honestly, you made up or deflected having to reveal the answer to many of those questions because you didn't even know yourself. The relationship was new and the only thing that was certain about it was that you both loved each other and nothing could change that. And finally, after all these days and weeks of challenges stuffed into every second and uncertainty being the only certain thing about it, that was enough. That was more than enough for you and Bruce.

10


	21. Book 2: Chapter 8

Bruce Confession Short Story Part 21:

 **So, I forgot to do this last chapter but I would just like to say RIP Stan Lee and thank you for the characters and universe you made. Thank you for making cameos in these movies and giving us something amazing to look forward to in our lives. There are so many people in this world who have been touched by this universe and it had made friends, lovers and brought people together in every way. It is something truly amazing and I am glad that I had the chance to experience it from the beginning with Iron Man. So thank you and RIP.**

 **And I just want to say that I'm sorry for not uploading more recently, I've just been going through some hard times and on top of being sad and crying all the time, I had no inspiration and as a result, this chapter might be a bit different in terms of quality. But I thought I probably should try. I went to a wedding last night and it sort of brought my spirits up to talk with friends and family. So, I hope you like it anyway. On to the story and one last time, RIP Stan Lee.**

In the morning, you properly brushed your hair, trying not to wince as it pulled on your head. You'd forgotten to brush it earlier, when it was wet and as a punishment, your hair decided to be incredibly tangled and hard to brush. When you finally got through it, you tied it up in a ponytail like normal and looked around at the mass of women sleeping everywhere. On the floor, propped up against the wall, slipping off the bed. You were lucky enough to be propped against the wall and could shake out most of the stiffness. You had woken up first and were careful not to wake anyone else.

You went to the kitchen and began to make food for everyone. You had no idea what shape the boys were in but you guessed that most of them were hungover and in desperate need of water. But you decided, just because you were feeling mean and it was funny, that you would leave them out to dry for longer. You took care of the girls instead, making stuff for each and every single one of them and kept it all warm or cold, depending on whose it was, by putting it in the oven or fridge.

It took you at least an hour and a half to accommodate for all of them. You made pancakes because they all loved those but because everyone liked them, you would have to make quite a few. And different toppings. Darcy, Jane and Liv loved chocolate spread on theirs while Natasha and Wanda liked ice cream. You liked strawberries and cream but decided to hold off on those for Pepper's sake and brought honey and lemon for yourself and Pepper. You took the various trays and put them in the room, the smell waking them up.

Thanks filled the room, grateful women tucking into their food. You left again and tried to make something for the guys now that you had taken care of the women and especially Liv. Mariana had woken up during the night and disturbed Liv who took her to another room to feed her and you knew your sister was absolutely exhausted. It wasn't anything to do with Jason or Harry, it was just stressful to have a baby. Especially when her sister was being as crazy as you were. You bit your lip, feeling slightly guilty for doing what you had and barely thinking about the consequences it might have on Liv but it was hard enough without having to worry about anything else.

You walked around the kitchen, trying to find something for them and then stopped, wondering why you were being so stupid and quickly brought up a jug to fill it with water and take it through on a tray with glasses. You walked in, to find a complete mess. "What the hell?" You asked, looking around to see toilet roll everywhere. The pillows and the people were all over the place accompanied by empty alcohol bottles. "FRIDAY? What happened?" You ask in disbelief, standing in the middle of it with a look of frozen shock as you surveyed the passed out people.

"They got slightly out of control Miss (L/N)." She replied, sounding tired.

"Why didn't you stop them?" You ask, slightly annoyed as you put the tray on the nearest table before wondering where to start with the mess.

"I did try but Mr Stark initiated protocol 12." She defended, you sighing as you realised what had happened.

"I'm sorry you had to endure that." You apologise, knowing just how crazy the men could get. "Do you have a video of what happened?" You asked, sitting down.

"Of course." FRIDAY replied, bringing up a video of the men earlier.

" _They can just get on top of you can't they? I mean honestly, you just need a night away from (Y/N) don't you?" Tony asked, trying to appeal to Bruce as he looked uncertain._

" _Um, no not really." He replied and you smirked, glad he wasn't agreeing._

" _Of course they do! Nat and Wanda get so pushy. Especially teamed up." Clint nodded._

" _As does Jane sometimes." Thor agreed and your mouth opened as you crossed your arms in annoyed shock, wondering what other dirt you could find._

" _You know Pepper does. And Steve's just met Darcy but he knows that she is a bit much don't you?" Tony asked and Steve opened his mouth as if to protest before closing it and reddening. "See?"_

The clip ended and you raised an eyebrow at the sleeping men with an angry frown before sighing. You walked out of the room, an idea forming in your head and a grin started to stretch its way across your face, rushing back to the women's room. You burst in to find empty plates and trays everywhere. "Guys, I have an idea!" You laugh, all of them instantly listening.

A few hours later, the men woke up to a clean room and empty trays in front of them as they leant their heads on each other. "What happened?" Tony asked, waking everyone else up as they groaned, stretching and shuffling around.

"Just relax, you had a rough night." Pepper spoke sweetly, a hint of glee in her voice.

"Okay?" Tony asked, not entirely sure why she was being so nice.

"I'm sure you don't remember. Jane? Darcy? Or Nat, you tell them." Liv smiled kindly, flicking Jason's cheek as he raised an eyebrow, a bit wary of her new persona.

"What bit do you mean? The dancing on the tables?" Nat asked, giving them her usual judgemental look but with a hint of a smile.

"OR, the drinking contest?" Jane asked, slightly glaring at Thor who diverted his gaze immediately.

"OR, the fight with your weapons? We probably shouldn't forget that." Darcy added, smirking at Steve who saw his shield laying close to him and shifted it under the sofa with a small kick.

"Oh, and we might have forgotten the little incident about the throwing of the glasses against the dartboard?" Wanda gestured to the dartboard and used her power to fly the broken glass bits right by their faces.

"So I think you owe us a small apology." You finished, crossing your arms as you glared at them all and heard small murmurs. "Thank you. Now go clean yourselves up." You add, moving out of the way so that they could walk out of the room. As soon as they left, you started the laughter as the girls rejoiced at their plan's success, high fiving each other and grinning as they collapsed on the sofa the boys had just occupied.

"I think that was a success." Pepper smirked as they all grinned.

"Great plan (Y/N)." Liv told you as you high fived each other.

"Why thank you Liv." You laughed, shifting to make yourself more comfortable.

"I can't believe they actually fell for it all." Jane joked as she and Darcy high fived as well.

"Well, I always knew they were a bit out of it but really. This is a new level." Wanda laughed, all of them smiling as they relaxed, putting their feet up on the tables and on each other.

"I wonder if they get it yet." Nat mused as they all shrugged.

"Should we really care?" Darcy asked, you and her laughing together.

"Maybe not. But you should care about if we use FRIDAY to listen in." Steve replied, leading the men back in as they all gasped, looking up.

"Busted now aren't you?" Tony asked with a smirk as the girls all held their breath.

"Not necessarily. Do you know what we did?" You ask, challenging them as you stood up.

"No, but I've got a pretty good idea." Bruce replied, crossing his arms with a smirk as you gave him a raised eyebrow in return.

"But do you actually know?" Jane asked, standing up beside you.

"You don't have to know the specifics to know something is wrong." Thor countered.

"So you know what we really did?" Liv asked, folding her arms.

"We have a good enough idea." Clint mimicked Liv, crossing his own arms as she cracked a smile.

"Enlighten me." Nat smirked, bucking the trend and sitting back down.

"What she said." Pepper agreed, sitting next to her.

"You lied to us." Vision stated as he looked at Wanda who laughed.

"Could you be a bit more specific?" She asked, sitting back down with the other girls.

"You told us we went crazy." Jason raised his eyebrows, challenging them as if to ask how they could suggest that with a child in the room as he squeezed Harry's hand.

"No we didn't!" Harry shouted, sending all of the girls into gentle laughter as they sat back down.

"Okay, but can you prove it?" You ask, putting your feet up on the table.

"No," Tony admitted and you put a fake innocent finger to your lips as you pretended to think.

"So why are you still here?" You ask, giving them a sweet smile.

"Because FRIDAY can." Bruce finished, the same level of sass in his words as you were giving them. Your eyes widened and you pressed your lips together.

"But she won't will she? She's on our side." You reply, a little hesitant once you saw Tony's grin.

"On the contrary, I take no sides. I apologise Miss (L/N)." FRIDAY spoke and you sighed, rolling your eyes.

"Go ahead." You allow, putting your head back on the sofa, knowing you couldn't stop her.

"Miss (L/N) and her friends took you to another room and let you sleep in there while they rampaged in this room before cleaning most of it up and replacing you in the room with their empty plates to make you think you had done it and they were caring and kind enough to clean it up and feed you." She revealed, dropping you all in it.

"Clever plan." Clint acknowledged after they had all listened in silence.

"But not clever enough." Tony finished and you did a mock curtesy after they finished.

"So? What are you going to do?" Liv challenged, not getting up.

"Nothing." Bruce told them.

"Nothing?" Darcy asked, not believing them.

"For the moment." Steve chipped in, crossing his arms.

"Right." Wanda spoke, sarcasm practically dripping off the word.

"First, we would like to know why you did it." Vision spoke, thoroughly confused.

"FRIDAY?" Pepper asked, and she played the clip for them.

"Oh, I forgot about that." Thor spoke quietly as Jane glared at him.

"Oh really?" She challenged as he looked down.

"But I didn't do anything." Jason protested, speaking for both him and Vision.

"You're still annoying." Liv shrugged as he sighed, rolling his eyes.

"And you lot are due for a slap." You finish, cracking your fingers as you fixed a steely glare on them. "Oh, sorry. Am I getting on top of you?" You mock, placing your newly painted nails on your chest as you burnt them with your sass. You lay back on the sofa, relaxing as you saw their embarrassed faces.

"Oh man, they are going to get so much worse with her leading them." Tony sighed, slapping his hand against his forehead.

"So you might want to watch you say about me Tony." You smirk happily, flicking your brushed hair behind you.

"And us." Darcy added, adopting the same pose as you.

"Darcy-" Steve began, feeling extremely rude for his words, or rather, lack of them yesterday.

"Don't start." Jane defensively cut in for her as Darcy looked away.

"I just-" He began again, only silenced by Darcy looking at him.

"You just what?" She asked, anger burning up inside her. The others were all jokey because of their connections. They were either good friends or a boyfriend but Darcy had just met them recently and still had that underlying sense of not belonging. So when Steve, the man she thought she might like a bit more than the others, criticized her like that, behind her back, Darcy felt like nothing and couldn't bring herself to forgive the super soldier at that moment or even look at him without a glare. Steve didn't speak and she smiled bitterly. "I thought so." She finished, getting up and leaving before anyone else.

"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have showed everyone that footage." You admitted, guilt squirming inside you as you watched the scene unfold.

"You think?" Clint deadpanned as you rolled your eyes, about to apologise when Steve cut in.

"No, it's my fault. I didn't say anything when I should've. It's not just about what you say when you're with them but all the time." He spoke with untold wisdom in his eyes and everyone was silenced by his words.

"I agree brother Rogers." Thor nodded, heartily clapping him on the back and taking him by surprise as he jerked forwards and everyone winced at the impact. "What shall you do to win her heart back?" He asked and everyone's wincing turned to smirks as Steve reddened.

"No, I'm not winning her heart-" He began but was interrupted by Thor again.

"You should throw a ball for her!" He suggested, deaf to his words. Or seemingly so. You raised a suspicious eyebrow at him and he discreetly winked at you and a small smile stretched its way across your face.

"Tony? Want to help a brother out?" Clint suggested as Tony sighed, nodding.

"Come on, tell me what you want and I'll sort it out." He told him as Steve nodded quickly, walking after him, both of them discussing details.

"Do you think it will work?" Pepper asked Jane nervously as the scientist took in a small breath.

"Maybe. But we can't let her stay like this, or she'll never go. Come on." Jane told her, both of them walking off to go find her.

"Guess that leaves us with the cleaning up duties doesn't it?" Wanda sighed, picking up a dustpan and brush and offering it to you as you laughed, all of you getting to work to make sure that it was even cleaner than before and starting to move furniture out of the way, everyone cursing themselves for not enlisting Steve with his super soldier strength to do it instead. Jokes were flung around the room and the girls retired early, saying that they had to get ready.

"So do we!" Clint retorted and you laughed, letting Nat take centre stage for this.

"Do you want to try and dress like a girl for a day?" She challenged and Clint instantly backed up, holding his hands up before realising that the back of the vacuum cleaner was open and all the dirt he'd collected had fallen right out of the container with Bruce trying to warn him and you burst out laughing.

"But then again, you might need a take a shower more than us." You teased as Bruce sighed in annoyance as Clint gasped in shock at what he'd done before letting it dissolve into laughter.

"Quick." Wanda whispered, rushing them out of there. Liv had gone earlier to look after Mariana and Harry stayed with Jason, cleaning up every now and then but mostly staying interested as he played with Clint's bow and arrows. He'd switched them off so he couldn't do any proper damage and the controls were isomorphic, they wouldn't respond to Harry but he still had fun with his orange juice and snacks with his arrows. He used it to stab open a packet of crisps and laughed happily when crisp crumbs went everywhere and Jason rolled his eyes, instantly hoovering them up.

They let him stay there, hoping he wouldn't get too irritating for them to handle. Jason could handle his son and Clint had children but Bruce was still wary around children and mostly stayed away, trying not to get caught up in a conversation just in case he ran out of things to say. The women found Liv and got ready with her before going to Jane, Darcy and Pepper to cheer Darcy up with some early drinking and endless encouragement combined with ruthless teasing.

It worked, lifting Darcy's spirits and she got ready, even trying on different outfits before deciding on a blue, tight fit dress which showed off her curves and made her more confident as she let her hair down. You all clapped, boosting her good mood as she sat down, shoving the next person into the bathroom with some clothes. You'd all slightly reluctantly agreed to let her dress you and she'd become very excited with the opportunity, even going so far as makeup. One by one, you were all dressed and if you were being honest, you actually all looked great.

"Wow Darcy, we all look amazing." Nat complimented as she let out a humph, folding her arms with a satisfied smirk.

"I know." She replied, a knowing grin on her face.

"Come on then, let's go!" You tell them as you get up, everyone in their clothes.

"Wait, what about you?" Wanda asked, adjusting her small necklace.

"I don't need anything, I'm too tired." You reply, dismissing it as Darcy almost choked.

"But you said I could dress you all!" She reminded and you bit your lip, sighing as you knew that she was right.

"But you've done all of them!" You challenge, not wanting to be made to dress up again. The last time this happened, your life went downhill and you managed to crawl your way back up. "4 out of 5 isn't bad." You shrug, not wanting to show your apprehension of what might happen.

"Please! It would really boost my confidence, after Steve said all those horrible things about me." She pouted, tears filling her eyes as you instantly repented.

"Fine! Fine, don't cry. Just give me the clothes." You sigh, letting your hair down from the messy bun and taking off your shoes to get changed. Darcy grinned and gave you an outfit without another word. You raised an eyebrow at how prepared she was but shrugged it off, walking into the bathroom to change and came back out with another raised eyebrow when you saw how it basically looked like a copy of Elsa's dress from Frozen. "You're joking me?" You asked, seeing the other girls' pretty, sexy dresses while you were stuck in that.

"Nope!" Darcy sniggered, everyone laughing as you rolled your eyes.

"Right, I'm changing back. I don't care if you get all pouty on me ag-" You cut yourself off, looking at the bed and finding your clothes gone. "Give me my clothes back." You demanded, holding your hands out and biting your lip when you saw that they were all in it.

"Nope." Jane laughed, trying to supress it unsuccessfully.

"Come on." You replied, a deadpan look on your face.

"Nope." Liv replied as Wanda used her powers to steal the other clothes from behind you as you gasped, seeing that you were truly and properly stuck in those clothes.

"Oh by the way, try and get them back and you'll have me to deal with." Nat smirked, waving as everyone laughed except you.

"Oh ha, ha, ha. Very funny, now give me my clothes!" You shouted, lunging for them out of nowhere to surprise them but Nat was not fooled and threw you onto the bed safely as you groaned, realising you were stuck.

"We also locked your room for good measure." Wanda laughed and your mouth hung open at the extremes they'd gone to.

"You know, one day, when you wake up to find yourself dangling over a bunch of crocodiles, you really shouldn't be surprised." You grumbled as they laughed, loving the chance to irritate you.

"Come on then!" Liv smiled as they locked the door to the room behind them.

"Come on then!" You mocked in annoyance as you pulled your train from their grasps. "I'm not getting married!" You tell them as they begin to hold it for you.

"You might be soon enough." They laughed as you deadpanned, rolling your eyes and trying not to show how the idea made your nerves skyrocket. You all got inside the room where they all sat and the boys all smirked as they saw you, trying to suppress their laughter.

"Say anything, and I'll use this train to strangle you." You threaten as you point a finger at them.

"Wow, you really went all out didn't you?" Tony smirked as you rolled your eyes, ripping off the detachable train and walking over angrily as Darcy held you back.

"If you weren't a friend of Steve, I would strangle you right now." You told Darcy who rolled her eyes in return and Steve blushed, obviously overhearing the conversation. You sit down and gratefully take a drink as Bruce winks at you, making you actually start to appreciate the dress slightly more.

"Come on then Tony, the toast!" Nat told him as he nodded, getting up.

"Okay then, this is for (Y/N), thanks for helping us in the case!" He spoke first and everyone cheered, raising their glasses to you. "Next, for Pietro Maximoff who sadly can't be with us today. But then again, he'd probably steal all our drinks out of our hands while we toast him." He joked and Wanda wiped away a small tear, instinctively leaning more into Vision who looked surprised but put an arm around her. "And thank you to Wanda for your help in the battle of Sokovia. We would've lost without you." He reassured as the brunette nodded, taking a sip from her glass. "And then for Bruce who finally got some sense and seized the chance to ask (Y/N) out like we all knew he should for years." He rolled his eyes as Bruce laughed, putting a hand around you as you lean into him. "(Y/N), take good care of him." He nodded and you nod in return, kissing Bruce on the cheek.

"Oh, and to Darcy and Steve. I'm sorry Darcy for saying that stuff, it was a little rude but then again, I was drunk. Steve's just an idiot around great women." He finished, sitting back down as Steve saw his chance.

"I'm sorry for any sadness I may have caused, I should've thought about what I did and I apologise for my actions." Steve told her as Darcy smiled, obviously touched for the special mention. "You are not too much. There could never be such a thing when it comes to you." He added and everyone went silent, waiting for her reaction.

"Don't worry, I'm fine with it. Just don't say stuff like that yeah?" She asked and Steve nodded quickly, glad that he had cleared the air.

"There we go! Now drink!" Tony interrupted and everyone laughed, downing their drinks and putting them on the side before you coughed slightly, a burning in your throat.

"You alright?" Bruce with a laugh as you rolled your eyes at him, blinking a few times to combat the burning tears.

"Fine. I love almost choking." You deadpanned as he laughed.

"I'm surprised you won the case with that sarcasm." He mocked as you laughed, taking another drink like everyone else had.

"Hey (Y/N), how did you even become a lawyer? It's not like that degree is faked." Tony asked, his glass in the air with his hand grasping the bottom as you swallow, starting to get slightly worried.

"Oh you know, different interests." You reply with a light laugh and everyone drinks.

"Funny, you don't seem the type." Clint asked suspiciously, not believing your excuse.

"Not everyone fits the mould you know." You shrug, drinking some more from your glass to try and move on.

"Why do you keep saying you know? You never say that." Natasha questioned, observing your lack of a response.

"It's a nervous reflex." Darcy spoke before Jane could and combatted the surprised look with only a witty comment Darcy could produce. "I did go to school. Just because I'm not a genius like you guys." She rolled her eyes as Pepper laughed, patting her back.

"Don't worry, they're just underestimating you as usual." She assured, both of them smiling as you join in, hoping they will move on.

"So how come you have a lawyer's degree when you're a scientist?" Steve asked and you mentally curse yourself, closing your eyes. Liv sees your face and you beg her for help.

"Because she's awesome but I need some help with Mariana. You two, the happy couple, come with me." She beckoned and you were more than happy to go with Bruce to her rather than stay for their questions. You got over with Bruce following and she instantly turned on you. "You have to tell them." She hissed and your eyes widened as you realised what she meant. "They're already so suspicious, you're going to lose their trust if you don't!" She tried to reason with you as you shook your head firmly.

"I'd rather lose their trust than gain their sympathy." You reply as Bruce opens his mouth to step in when Liv interrupted him.

"(Y/N), why don't you want to tell them? You went through a lot of crap and put up with it! You're strong and you deserve acknowledgement for that!" She whisper-shouted as the Avengers chatted quietly amongst themselves about what you might be talking about. "You went through so much crap and let's be honest, we're both quite messed up from it. We're not normal. We're far from normal. But neither are they are they?" She challenged as you bit your lip, debating on what to do.

"She's right. I'm not the most normal person you'll ever meet. Neither are any of them. Everyone in here has something that makes them different from the normal person. We've all embraced it. You need to as well." Bruce told you as you turned to him with tears in your eyes.

"But how? You saw me in that court room, I can't." You whisper, feeling the emotion start to overwhelm you.

He hugged you, bringing you in for a warm hold as you both ignored Liv's confused whispers of, "He knows?"

"I know it's hard. It may be the worst thing you'll have to do right now, but in a few days or months, it will be the best thing." He reassured as you sniffed, smiling at them before leaving and retiring to your room after calling their bluff on the lock. You sat on the chair, contemplating it all. They were right, you knew they were right but you didn't know exactly how to explain it. It was… complicated. You opened your computer, hands poised over the keys as you opened up a document and began to type it all out, trying to choose the right words and phrases to use. You spent an hour in there, working through it all and ignoring the tears that fell down your cheeks and threatened to halt your progress.

You came to the end and stopped, printing it out and picking it up with a small sigh. You took a deep breath and walked back out to them. "Okay, I wrote it out. Now, I might not get through this so give me a break." You joked, laughing as they all nod assuredly.

"Go for it." Tony smiled as you stood in front of them all, holding the paper.

"Good luck." Bruce whispered, kissing your cheek before he went to the sofa and sat down to watch you.

"My father was loud and scary and I always hated him but when I got older and started to stand up to him," You began, launching straight into it. "I got abused." You say, pausing for a moment to take a breath. "I realised that my sister and mother had been abused as well, always hiding bruises and pains and I became the same. As I were the loudest, the chattiest and the best 'actress', he tried to force me into being a lawyer. He taught me everything and soon enough, every university said I would be the best lawyer of the entire university. If I forgot a law, he would beat me until I remembered. I would always wish for someone to find me and help me but whenever they did, they would go and get help and then leave me alone so when help came, my father would always have fed me some story I had to repeat word for word."

"When I looked in the mirror, I would cry about how messed up my face looked. I had to cover it up with make-up when I went to school and it was why I preferred no makeup at the lab. Only minimal, because I had nothing to hide." You smile as you say this, Bruce smiling at you back. The topic was heavy and not one you broached often, but it was a comfort to know that Bruce was still by your side and you wanted to show him how grateful you were. "But I hated feeling helpless so I lied to my father and told him I was studying and went to a fight club, learning to punch and fight for myself. I'd never had experience with guns and tried going to a shooting range before but it was found out by my father and I had to pretend I didn't know how to fight so it didn't do much."

"When Liv got old enough, she moved out, taking me with her and we both lived together, working for nothing to get each other through university and Liv's internship." You recall, remembering those slightly happier times as you smiled at Liv this time. Jason gave her a side armed hug, giving her a tissue to wipe away the tears that were sure to fall. She whispered a thanks to him and you smile at your sister and brother in law. "We both filed a lawsuit against our 'father', reporting him and saving Mum. I used the skills that he had beaten into me to win the case and he got locked up for a year. Then we all filed restraints against him and I moved to America. I sent Liv money until she got on her feet and we all moved on with life. I had an emotional goodbye with Liv, both of us promising to keep in touch. I mainly forgot but managed a quick text every now and then. Sorry Liv." You apologise, finally repenting for what you had done. She laughed at your apology, forgiving you.

"But I attended the wedding to walk my sister down the aisle because we weren't going anywhere near our father and I made it to the baby shower but after that, we just grew further apart. Until Ultron. Because then I realised Ultron somehow knew about my father and had made sure it had never gone on record what had happened. Liv made some calls, trying to talk to Fury. He had saved both of us when our father came back and cornered us in an alley. He knocked him out and saved us both. When he found out I had no job but were a great scientist, he decided to offer me a job at SHIELD. And he used some contacts to help Liv get a job as an interior designer."

"Fury knew? Fury knew and not us?" Clint practically shrieked, more shocked than ever.

"He's my boss, and a man of great influence. I would prefer not to piss him off." You retort calmly. "Well, you're always so friendly and kind around me, and nothing like the scary persona I always see on TV. I've come to think of you as friends. Ever since being here, I've become better. Even my Mum noticed it, she said I have become freer. Emotionally, physically, in every and any way. I am free. I don't have to hold back my tears or hide my injuries, I can show you guys because I'm not afraid of getting more injuries because of it. I let my hair down, I don't have to be always ready for a physical fight. I joke, I laugh and I cry if I need to. I am free." You tell them all earnestly, your face finally settling for a calm and relaxed smile after the confusing array of emotions that had flickered across your face.

"(Y/N) is a free elf." You finish, taking a deep breath as Tony grins, walking forwards and grabbing for a massive hug.

"That's my girl." He whispered, relating to you as you let out a half laugh and half sob of joy. You felt like a weight you had barely known had existed had suddenly grown wings and flown away.

"I had never told anyone about why I was so immune to a lot of injuries and never cried in front of people unless I felt completely safe. I never explained why I was tough enough to easily dodge every punch someone tried to give and humiliated them for trying to wolf-whistle at me. They just thought I was some badass woman and had had to deal with it all before. None of them could have ever predicted this, especially from someone like me." You finish, taking a deep breath and finally gaining control over your life and emotions. You were right about that now. It was all fine. You felt fine. You felt perfect. It was all perfect.

"But it's all okay now." Bruce finished as he hugged you next, wiping away your tears as you finally accepted everything that had happened to you.

"Yeah, basically." You smile, looking up at him as he smiled back. Time stood still in that moment as you looked into his eyes, your slight headache making you unsteady on your feet as he held you up. He kept a hand on your cheek and the other around your waist in a hug. It may have felt like years but it was only a moment in which you watched each other before he leaned in and kissed you. You may have kissed before but this was different. This was new. You weren't hiding anything, you weren't lying about your feelings and neither was he. You were being completely honest and had let down all your defences but you could tell that Bruce had done the same. It was new, but wonderful.

And you loved it.

10


	22. Book 3: Chapter 1

Bruce Confession Short Story Part 22:

You all get to the end of the party with drunken quips that make no sense but still somehow offend slightly as you fall asleep, everyone leaning on each other as they push more sofas over to relax on as they stretch. You all woke up in jumpy drunken slurs as you try to focus before groaning as the hangovers started to kick in and you tried to unwrap yourself from the cape and dress as you stretched your arms. You opened your eyes to look around and see the others doing the same as you tried to untangle your feet from the cape before you lost your balance and tipped off the sofa, falling onto your side to which Nat instantly replied with a photo. "I hate you sometimes." You murmured, rolling your eyes at her with a groan as she laughed.

"I know." She replied as you tried to get up, stretching. You woke Bruce up with a kiss, laughing as his eyes widened and you pulled away.

"Morning." You greeted with a grin as he instantly woke up, all signs of sleep disappearing.

"Morning," He spoke, sitting up properly again. "I have a question though," He added as you raised an eyebrow. "Is that going to become a routine for us?" He asked, a grin starting to spread across his face as you laughed, turning away to get the glasses from everyone.

"Only if I'm in a good mood." You conditioned, walking out to go have a shower and relax yourself, every limb stiff from sleep. You got ready, putting on a loose shirt, leggings and jacket, making sure that you were comfortable most of all with your hair up in a messy bun. You walked back out to the kitchen to have some breakfast and have some coffee to shake away the sleep properly as you stood by the pot, waiting for it to boil. You wondered what you were going to do today, it was only just starting to get back to normal after a month of craziness.

But as soon as you finished making breakfast, FRIDAY interrupted you. "Miss (Y/N), Director Fury has requested a meeting with you in his office." She reported as you smirked, wondering what might happen if you refused.

"And by requested you mean ordered. And now, I'm presuming?" You laughed as FRIDAY seemed to smile as well.

"Of course." FRIDAY replied, seeming to laugh along with you as you sat down.

"Well tell him to wait until I've had my breakfast." You asked, tucking in. You weren't going to just drop everything so he could talk to you about something you'd probably forgotten and was going to sweat about under his one eyed glare. It took only a moment before FRIDAY spoke up again.

"He replied that your job is under threat if you don't go this instant." She told you as you laughed, sighing.

"Fine, tell him I'm on my way." You smirked, an idea forming as you made your way to his office. With your breakfast tray. You balanced it on one hand and opened the door to his office.

"I see you finally made your way here…" He began, trailing off as he stood up to look at you and see what you had done. "With your breakfast tray." He sighed as you smirked, placing your food on top of his stacks of papers and beginning to eat with your feet on the other seat as he narrowed his eyes at you.

"Alright?" You asked with a grin, trying to act normal.

"You're lucky it's you." He warned as you laughed, taking down your feet as you continued to eat.

"Aw Fury, you know you love me really." You joked as he rolled his eyes at your childish antics. Before, you were struggling to conceal everything, what with keeping a professional relationship with him at all costs but now, you just did what you always should have. You joked. You laughed and irritated Fury like a little sister because honestly, he had been the older brother that day, protecting his two little sisters and giving them a place in the world. You needed that and as much as he protested, he liked that.

"Moving on, I called you here to remind you of the position on the Avengers I offered you a few months ago." He began as you coughed on your glass of orange juice you'd chosen, not really in the mood for coffee. "I knew you'd forgotten." He sighed, the worn out thought of retirement once again running through his mind. Of course it was always dismissed on the basis that the Avengers would undoubtedly fall apart without him but when moments like this occurred again and again, he couldn't help but wonder if he could ignore the consequences, just for a bit of peace.

"I hadn't forgotten!" You defended, recovering from the shock. "I just… was a little distracted." You finished, trying to make it seem like you had remembered even though you both knew you hadn't.

"So have you not forgotten to make a decision?" Fury sassed, narrowing his eyes at you again as you pressed your lips together and as a result ignoring the food as you felt so conflicted all over again.

"No?" You squeaked, your heart suddenly becoming heavy. You hadn't thought about it after the Sokovia fight, too busy with everything else to remember let alone make a decision on it.

"Are you going to make one now?" He challenged as you chewed your lip, still wondering what to do.

"No." You breathed, speaking a little stronger to try and confront him.

"Do you want me to retract the offer?" He dared angrily, tired of having no answer.

"No." You replied honestly, not wanting to let this possible promotion go. It was such a good offer but you had no idea if you could handle it. You didn't want to accept and then deal with the consequences when you couldn't step up.

"So make a decision in the next month or this offer goes and it's back to how it used to be." He threatened as you nodded, understanding completely why he was being like this. He needed an answer so he could put your new perks of the job into place permanently or take them away permanently.

You knew that you were being difficult and making his life hard for seemingly no reason but he was probably the only one that knew better than anyone apart from Liv why you were having so many doubts and insecurities about yourself which is why he was being harsh. He knew you needed to be rushed so you could actually force yourself to make a decision instead of avoiding the situation like you always did. Like you had been for all the years you had working for him.

Now you'd faced that problem and told them about your past, you had to face this one and your insecurities.

"Thank you." You whispered, nodding with your head low as he broke in a sad smile and you sat there deliberating over what to do. "Want some breakfast?" You offered, seeing that your appetite was completely gone, you just watched as the food cooled down. You didn't want it wasted but you didn't want to eat it either.

"Sure." He smiled kindly as he took a piece of toast and you smiled, leaving the tray in his room, just rearranging it nicely around the files for him to eat as he continued through his work. You left quietly, still thinking over it carefully as you tried to think of what to do. It was definitely a lot more to think about but you had so much going right in your life so you didn't need to completely worry. It wasn't all about the one wrong move making everything topple and you would die. It was just you trying to progress your own life. You walked back through to the kitchen, still thinking as you sighed, picking up a tennis ball and throwing it from one hand to the other.

You still didn't know what to do when you decided to take a coffee to Bruce in the lab, both of you where you were a few months ago, only a lot more progressed in life. For starters, you were together and happy and Ultron wasn't plaguing your lives anymore. But mostly, it was the same as you brought another coffee in to him. "Hey Bruce, I got you a coffee. Just in case you're planning another all-nighter." You smirked, joking as he laughed, taking the coffee gratefully.

"Thanks (Y/N) but I will try to restrain myself this time." He joked as you sat down on the stool next to him, watching as he worked. He stopped after he cleaned the microscope lens, turning to you. "Are you alright? You haven't spoken since you came in." He checked as you snapped out of your trance, looking up and nodding before shaking your head instead. "Come on, what is it?" He asked, putting the experiment to the side as he took your hands.

"Something we've discussed before but you might want to do that experiment before the platelets dry up again." You told him as he laughed, turning back to it quickly before taking down a few notes in his scrawl and then cleared it up. He then sat back down and took your hands again, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, done. Now what is it?" He asked, ready to listen as you pressed your lips together, wondering if you should even tell him after last time or if you should divert and potentially be able to get away with playing it safe.

"You know that Cap's blood is rare and dries up really quickly and that he hates injections, did you put it in the wet case?" You ask and he raises his eyebrows at you.

"I think I've done enough experiments with Cap's blood to know how to handle it. Now stop trying to divert, tell me what it is." He replied with a smile as you laughed, loving how he always knew what you were trying to do.

"You remember when I came back from Spain before Ultron?" You ask, waiting for him to nod before carrying on. "And then Fury offered me that position but I never gave him an answer because of Ultron?" You elaborated as he caught on.

"Oh, the position on the Avengers?" He clarified as you nodded. "So he asked you for an answer?" He asked and you nodded again.

"But I don't know what to say. He gave me a month but I'm still really confused. I have no idea." You spoke truthfully as Jane walked into the room with a smile, picking up a wrench to work on her phase meter with all the Stark tech as Thor helped with the heavy lifting and Darcy helped with her witty comments and political science major in tow like she always did. They were only staying for a few more days and Jane wanted to make the most of it. Specifically, her time with Thor as he was leaving again soon as well.

"What do you think about it? Would you like being an Avenger?" Bruce asked, trying to break it down and not be biased again.

"I think so. I mean, I practically am. But I am not as good as Natasha." You added as Bruce shook his head.

"You'll get training. It's not about the skills, it's about if you can convince yourself you can do it." He countered, being rational and putting things into perspective.

"What if the press hates me?" You retaliate fearfully, your mind straying to all the worst situations.

"Trust me, Pepper won't let that happen. Have you seen the stuff she's done to Tony's image?" He reassured as you nodded. He was right, this was really all it boiled down to. If you could conquer your fear of being judged by the world and if you could rise to the challenge. If you had that, your life would get significantly better. There was no lying about it.

You would get more holidays to spend with Liv and Jason in England and extra time with Bruce. You could keep in contact with Jane, Darcy and Selvig, maybe even do experiments of your own without a specific criteria given to you by SHIELD. You would be much freer and independent.

But your life now wasn't bad at all. That was what seemed to be holding you back. You knew that you had a comfy cushion to land on if you refused this offer. You had two very good choices and your fear prompted you to take the easy option.

"You're right. I just need to try and push myself. I can't stay in this comfort zone forever." You agreed, Bruce smiling at you. "But you're not angry like before?" You checked as he laughed.

"No, I've come to my senses." He replied and you raised an eyebrow. "And realised that I don't have to hide my worry about you or the fact that I will be protecting you on the field as much as I can." He added, making you laugh in return, a smile on your face as you gave him a hug, letting out a sigh of relief. "Now go relax with your sister. She's only got a few more days here before she has to go back." He conditioned as you held your hands up, getting up.

"Okay, okay, I'll go." You agree as he nodded with a satisfied smile. "But only if you come with me." You conditioned, laughing as he instantly started to shake his head, scooting his stool away from you at first as you rushed after him, Bruce resorting to running around the lab like children, him using his seat as a weapon to keep you away from him and the prospect of having to socialise with your sister.

"NO! Back away from me, demon!" He joked, over-dramatising his dread to go with you as you tried to keep going, laughter stopping you every few minutes.

"Bruce! Just 10 minutes at least!" You negotiated as he sighed, lowering his weapon. "That's right, put the stool down." You coaxed as his shoulders drooped, only softening when you took his hand and began to drag him along to go to the kitchen where you knew Liv would be feeding Harry. "Hey Liv!" You called as she waved a hand in your direction distractedly as she covered herself up with a towel as she fed Mariana. "Oh jeez! I regret this decision now." You shouted, turning around to bump into Bruce as you saw her breastfeeding.

Bruce just laughed and took your hand again. "You made me come, this is payback." He smirked, pulling you into the room.

"I will never get used to seeing my sister like that." You spoke with wide eyes, trying to shake the image out of your brain.

"Well you will have to sometime soon because I'm not planning on letting my child starve for you." She sassed, having heard it all as you laughed.

"Yeah, just let Mariana grow up and then leave the whole children thing." You spoke softly as if advising her as she deadpanned.

"Don't keep your hopes up, that's not happening any time soon." She replied, shaking her head.

"And does Jason know about your plans?" You ask, still sassing as you and Bruce sat down next to Harry who was too engrossed in the TV to listen to their conversation.

"He'll find out soon enough." Liv laughed, her voice having a tired edge to it despite her almost a full night's sleep.

"So, socialising. What does it involve?" Bruce asked, much more comfortable with the state of affairs because you were embarrassed instead.

"Usually not addressing the situation as socialising." Liv sassed and he laughed.

"I see where (Y/N) gets her sass from." He complimented, making Liv laugh in return.

"Well, she wasn't going to get it from our parents was she?" She spoke a little bitterly as your smile sort of faded as you realised what she meant. Silence sort of reigned for a moment before you remembered to whisper something to Liv. You scooted over and gave her the look that you both knew which meant there was something serious going on.

"Have you found out anything about the connection between Ultron and Dad?" You whisper and she shakes her head slightly.

"Jason was declined the right to investigate. He's been doing a little digging by himself but it's not enough to create anything substantial." She replied, making you sigh.

"Should I be worried? What if he finds us?" You ask and she shakes her head, adjusting Mariana to put an arm around you.

"Don't worry. He won't find you. And even if he does, you've got the bloody Avengers. And I've got Jason. We're protected." She reassured, kissing the top of your head and momentarily transporting you 20 years back into the past.

"Okay, good point." You agreed and she nodded a satisfied smile your way. "You know what, let's go out tomorrow. Nowhere fancy, no special shopping trip, let's just go out." You decided randomly, needing another break.

"Sure, I'd love that. I'll leave Harry and Mariana with Jason. It'll only be a few hours right?" Liv confirmed and you nodded, a smile on your own face.

"Of course, this is going to be fun." You grin before turning to your boyfriend. "Bruce, you in?"

"Sorry, got a few more SHIELD experiments to do tomorrow. They want the paperwork done by Friday by the way." He added and you laughed, sighing shortly after.

"Well, I'll just pull an all-nighter like you. But tomorrow, I'm going out with my sister." You spoke firmly and he nodded, not disagreeing at all. "Maybe someone else is free?" You asked at the exact moment Clint walked in.

"Free for what?" He asked, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Just going out. Showing my sister the lovely sights." You replied, trying to sell the idea and he nodded, agreeing as well.

"Sure, I'm free. Don't think anyone else is though. Jane and Thor are still working away together. Nat's training for another mission. Wanda and Vision are hanging out. Darcy and Steve are hanging out. Well, Steve's more awkwardly trying to make conversation whenever she enters a room." He summed up and they all laughed at the super soldier. He loved and empowered strong women, he could just never correct a single mistake because they never allowed him to forget. "And Tony's going over some newer energy plans with Pepper. I think you're stuck with just me guys." He explained and you groaned in mock annoyance, making a show of it for your sister.

"Not you! Anyone but you!" You laughed as he mimed shooting an arrow at your head and everyone laughed. Liv finished feeding Mariana and put her to sleep before informing Jason of the new plans she'd made and how he was going to have to look after the kids. He was fine with it, knowing he could just entertain them with some of the amazing tech in the Tower and Liv went back to you and Bruce, both of you planning your day with Clint. The rest of the day was spent planning. You went to sleep and woke up the next day, ready to go.

Breakfast was normal, you kissed Bruce goodbye and tried not to read too much into parting words of, "Be careful." Knowing it was probably just a normal comment but your head was still stuck on the thought of your father. Luckily, you managed to dismiss it enough for all 3 of you to grab the essentials. An hour later, you might as well have not existed. Needless to say, all your plans had gone to the dirt.

"Why are we cutting through the alleyways?" You ask Clint and Liv who laugh at your question as they jump over a bin bag.

"Because it's fun. We parents don't get to do this stuff often." Liv told you, looking behind her as Clint nodded along, being a father himself. You shook your head fondly as you jumped after them before hitting a dead end.

"It's also very hard to see where you're going." You point out as they try to see if they can get past the wall.

"Wait here. I'll get a higher vantage point." Clint told them, scaling the wall and standing on top of a house.

"Can you see a way out?" Liv shouts up to him and he looks down and shakes his head.

"I'll go further. Wait there!" He shouts and you roll your eyes, sitting down for what you know is going to be a long wait.

"So Liv, how's Jason, Harry and Mariana?" You ask, mainly out of boredom and to pass the time as she sank down next to you.

"They're good. Loving life." She replied, resting her head against the brick wall.

"How are you?" You ask, making sure that it was directed at Liv and not the others.

"I'm fine, the stress of having a baby has worn off now that I'm with my family." Liv smiled, nudging your arm. "What about you?" She asked as you laughed.

"I am actually completely fine. You know, for the first time in ages, I am completely fine." You nod as she smiled, leaning her head on your shoulder and you put your head on hers.

"Good. Now we just have to wait for him to come back." She laughed as you groaned, moving your head from her shoulder and back onto the wall. It took only a few more seconds of silence before a voice spoke up from above them.

"Having fun down there?" Clint laughed as you both looked up.

"Not really, got a way out?" Liv asked as you both got up and he grinned, holding an arm out. You laughed happily, as you tried to reach but he was too far up. "Seriously? I can't reach." Liv moaned as she stretched. You ran to get the bin bags and piled them on top of each other before pushing Liv up them to get their hands to connect. The second they did, Clint grabbed her hand with both of his, pulling her up and onto the wall. "Come on then, your turn." Liv called, turning around to grab your hand instead and you tried to go on the bin bags like Liv had but your foot broke the ball, going through and you fell to the floor before they could grab your hand.

"Oh great, I can't even get up now." You moaned, following Liv's actions.

"Find some other bin bags." Liv told you as you rolled your eyes, getting to your feet and brushing off the paper bag stuck to your shoe.

"No! Just find me another way out of here, I'll walk." You told them as you kept trying wipe your feet clean of all the bin juice.

"Fine, if you give up that easily." Clint taunted and you shrugged.

"I can't be bothered right now." You replied as he and Liv ran off and you carried on wiping your feet before you sat down with a sigh. Why was it taking so long for them to track a route out? You looked at your hands, thinking useless thoughts about how you should probably get a nail set as they were getting quite rough and they were littered with paper cuts. But your useless thoughts were suddenly replaced by terrified ones as a familiar shadow cast itself over you and you felt a chill run down your spine. You looked up to see him glaring at you with an imposing stance as you scrambled to the wall behind you for protection. "You can't be here. We have a restraining order." You told him in fear as his serious look suddenly broke and he burst into cruel laughter.

It shook you to the core and you felt yourself starting to shake just from being in his presence. "A restraining order. I know. Very well fought by the way." He commended with a smirk before it broke and he walked forwards threateningly. "Fought with the skills I GAVE YOU!" He yelled in your face as you held your arms up to protect yourself as you squeezed your eyes shut. All that training and self-defence and the second you needed it, it all went out of the window.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." You whispered in the vague hopes that it would save you.

"I don't want you though. Not right now." He growled, backing off as you felt your knees go weak from the adrenaline leaving your body and leaving you tired.

"So what do you want?" You asked after a moment, the silence leaving you in agony and worry for the threat of imminent danger.

"I'm glad you asked." He laughed, turning around again to look at you as you wrapped your arms around yourself. "I want my wife." He revealed and your heart dropped to your stomach.

"No." You whispered, starting to go dizzy in your head as you felt yourself about to faint.

"Do you know where she is?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. You didn't respond and he came closer again, making you wince in the remembered pain of your past. "I know you do. I tracked her movements. She went to Liv's house." He revealed, proving his point as your silent shock was plastered all over your face. He saw this and laughed again. "Oh I know where she lives. I always have. But I didn't touch her. I couldn't. Her police husband, secret gun and ruthlessness. I guess she takes after me." He shrugged nonchalantly as your heart raced. "But you!" He shouted, making you jump as he pointed a finger at you.

"Oh just like your mother." He laughed loudly, throwing his head back as he did. "Sentimental and stupid. Always allowing yourself to be manipulated." He described as you felt tears well up in your eyes. "Oh don't worry darling, I'm coming for you. But not right now. Right now I need my wife." He finished taunting you as you shrunk down, shaking your head.

"I don't know where she went I promise. She went somewhere else, she wouldn't tell me." You rushed out as he glared at you, trying to gauge whether you were telling the truth or not.

"I don't believe you." He hissed and you shook your head consistently for at least a minute, every other function disabling as you tried to keep calm.

"Well I guess you'll never get to question her further." Jason growled as he turned around to see the police with their guns aimed at his head. You took the chance to rush to Liv who quickly ushered you away.

"Running away from your father? How cowardly." He called after the two of you and you stayed shaking away from him while Liv stormed back angrily.

"You are not my father, you useless git." She spat at him as your legs gave in and you fell onto Bruce who rushed over to you as soon as he got out of the car, just in time to catch you.

"Hey, don't worry, it's all okay." He whispered, holding you and stroking your hair as you dissolved into tears. You couldn't help but cry into him as he led you away from the biting comments of your 'father' and Liv's retorts. You didn't hear everything but were informed by an officer later that she had be restrained by Jason to stop her throwing punches and you wished you could be like her. You longed to have her strength and emotional ruthlessness. To be able to cut him off and treat him how he deserved instead of cowering in his presence. It wasn't good, but it was all you could do.

Not because you respected him, but because it was beaten into you as a child that you had to do that. You sat there, lost in your thoughts as you cried, shrinking further into Bruce's jacket. He had been taken away to document what had happened earlier and he thought it best to not discuss it in front of you. So he had excused himself and left you in the seat of a police car with his jacket. Your 'father' was sat in a police car near you with handcuffs in front of him and you turned your back away, trying to keep him out of sight and hopefully out of mind. An hour passed and you started to come to grips with what had happened when a policeman opened the door and he pushed past him, knocking him to the floor.

He ran over to you, the delay in response from the police giving him a moment to grab you by the scruff of your shirt. "Ultron may have failed, but I won't. I'm coming for your mother and for you." He hissed, throwing you to the floor in front of the policeman who noticed that he was gone, running after him. You curled into a foetal position, too many emotional punches being thrown and not enough pulled.

Bruce rushed over and picked you up, helping you over to the car as you sped back to the Tower. You looked up to see where you were and shook your head, refusing to get out of the car. For some reason, this was not a place you wanted to be right now. Especially with the journalists outside with cameras and questions. "No, can we go see Laura please?" You asked politely, in a childlike manner, reverting back as Bruce sighed, nodding. No one bothered packing, they all just drove over, staying on the road for hours in silence, all picking up some food from petrol stations along the way apart from you who just sat there in shock.

You and Bruce were in a car alone while the others picked their own cars and their group to drive with. You didn't speak, you didn't eat or drink, you just sat there shaking your head to any offer of sleep or food or moving from that position at all. Clint called ahead and when you got there, you instantly embraced the kids, getting to your knees to give them huge hugs, silent tears dropping from your eyes as you saw the woman you needed to see coming up above you to join her children. You managed to pull away with a watery smile and the excited children moved on to meet up with their favourite superheroes again, including their Dad. Laura bent down to look into your eyes and you couldn't help but give her a defeated smile.

She smiled kindly back and picked you up, taking you inside as if you were physically wounded, supporting you by the waist. You got inside and up to your old room which Laura sat in with you, holding you close in that motherly embrace. "What happened?" She asked and you sniffed, managing to get the word out.

"Dad." You told her and she sighed, pulling you closer and holding you tight. She had only gotten hints of how bad it was, she didn't know the full picture but she knew enough to know it wasn't good.

"I'm sorry (Y/N)." She whispered and you sniffed some more, trying to think it through.

"Can I go to sleep? I mean, it's that or the alcohol." You tried to laugh as Laura let out a small one before nodding and giving you some clothes to sleep in. You changed and did the curtains, turning the light off and pulling the covers over your head. You couldn't deal with reality right now. You had to escape to dream land. You woke up in the middle of the night and saw Bruce asleep in the bed opposite you with his laptop on the floor. His hand was reaching down to it and you assumed he had fallen asleep on it. You smiled, closing the lid properly and putting it on charge. He seemed to sense that it was gone and shifted to be more comfortable as you turned the sidelight he had worked by, off as well, going downstairs.

No one was down there but it was a mess of toys and cups and chairs everywhere. Laura sure had had a hard time accommodating everyone again. The amount of mugs out was crazy. Looks like people had wanted seconds. You collected them all up as silently as you could, being careful not to step on squeaky toys and loaded them into the dishwasher, turning it on. You then started to clean everything up, picking up the toys and stuffing them in the toy box and being extremely careful with the Lego. You then shifted the chairs to look better without making too much noise and stood around, looking at the room to see how else you could clean it. It looked pretty good but when you moved into the kitchen, you saw that there was lots more to do.

Once that was done, you glanced at the time and sat it was 3:25 in the morning and you should probably be asleep. You grabbed a bite to eat and carefully snuck it up to your room, knowing Bruce wouldn't hear. He was a deep sleeper after having fallen asleep on his computer. It was amusing to eat as loudly as you dared and yet nothing. No reaction. You threw the wrapper in the bin and lay in bed yourself, thinking it all over. What were you going to do? He wanted Mum.

Obviously you'd warn her but you didn't know how to get in touch. No, you could ask Tony to find her. Yeah, that would be good. You got out a piece of paper and got everything written down like you had before. It was your usual tactic. You wrote down each problem you could think of and could thankfully only think of 3. 2 if you merged two of them together. Number one was that your offer of the Avengers but that was already solved. You were going to take it as soon as this Dad drama was over.

Number two was the connection between Ultron and Dad. You were taken hostage because of it and you had to watch Dr Cho's entire team be murdered. You'd managed to save her but it was still stomach churning to think about. Number three was why Mum was running away. You didn't have conclusive evidence but you were extremely sure that it was because of Dad. She probably knew that he wanted her and didn't want to let him have her. But you knew that you had to find her and convince her that you could protect her and she could be safe. You wrote all this down and any suspicions you had down. All the leads you could think of and courses of action, you wrote down and stuffed under your pillow before going to sleep again.

A few hours later, you woke up early again and had to remember that Ultron wasn't a problem anymore, you weren't wrestling with your connection with Bruce and you didn't have to worry about any of those problems anymore. The only problems you did have to worry about were under your pillow and not even really problems, more… loose ends. You took a deep breath and remembered that everything was under control and it was all okay. You didn't need to worry about any of those things right now because you were safe. All you had to do was reassure everyone that you were okay after yesterday.

"Hey Laura." You greeted with a smile as she turned around and breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Okay, everyone else is either asleep or put to work. Now come on, sit down and tell me what happened." She ordered as she gave you a cup of coffee. You smiled tiredly, glancing at a clock to see it was 7:00, before looking back at Laura and the deep circles under her eyes. Of course she was up at this time, the kids had to go to school and knowing her, she was probably up half the night worrying about why they were back here before Clint managed to get her to sleep. You smiled at her, glad she was here and you sat down with her after thanking God for Laura Barton.

"Well, I saw him." You summarised as she nodded with a sigh.

"I know, they told me the gist of it. He's after your Mom. What I don't understand is why you're so scared." She replied as you shrugged.

"I don't know. Every time I see him, it's just… paralysing. It's like… like I'm 10 years old again and he's changed from this absent father figure to a looming shadow who's always there. I forget everything else I've done, everything I could do. Some sense of defeat just takes me over. I can't help it." You explained as you sipped, faraway eyes filling with a separate sort of sadness. It wasn't the type to make someone cry, it was just a heavy weight on a person's heart.

"Well," Laura began after taking a moment to take it all in. "Maybe you just need a reminder. Because (Y/N), you've done amazing things. You fought in the battle of Sokovia, saving people's lives and kicking robot ass if you pardon the rudeness." She reminded as you laughed at her phrasing. "You've tamed the Hulk to an extent and turned his destructive nature into a force for good." She added as you smirked, tilting your head from side to side before you both started to laugh again. "But not even that, you've survived emotional and physical trauma. You survived and lived to tell the story. Or hide it in your case." Laura joked again, not letting you wallow in sadness or pride too long.

"You came from a broken childhood where there wasn't enough love or help to go around and it could've stunted your emotional growth completely but look at you! You're an accomplished scientist at SHIELD, in a happy relationship and have great friends. And your sister has a family who loves her just as much as she loves them with a job she loves. Both your lives are wonderful and you are happy. You've become your own woman and are living your own life." She pointed out as you smiled, listening to it all. A sigh of contentment escaped you and you nodded, agreeing. "And there is one thing you're missing. If he is looking for your mother through you, he obviously can't find her and trust me, if that woman doesn't want him to find her, he's not going to. Plus, he's got the cops on his ass, you don't. You've got sophisticated tech, he hasn't." She finished, making a valid point.

You were silent for a moment, smiling about it before it morphed into a smirk. "You're talking a lot about asses today aren't you?" You pointed out and she laughed.

"Yeah, because my eye candy just came home." She smirked, finishing her cup and taking it to the sink as you followed with your own.

"Planning on another baby?" You joked as she laughed, shaking her head.

"I'm still in the process with little Nathaniel here." She pointed out as you nodded, seeing her massive bump now. He was definitely growing.

"The thing is, about Mum. I've got a few leads I can chase up but I still don't know the connection between my dad and Ultron." You revealed, going back to the problems you'd thought about as Laura raised an eyebrow.

"Ultron? I thought that was over?" She asked, not knowing much apart from what Clint had told her and if she was being honest, she didn't want to know.

"Yeah, but when he had me hostage, he said he knew my father. I don't know how, but he knew all about my past. It wasn't written down anywhere or on any records, I don't know how he found out." You replied honestly as she absorbed the information.

"So you think there's a connection. It couldn't just be some record he found?" She checked and you shook your head firmly.

"Absolutely not. Fury assured me of it, no one at SHIELD or anywhere apart from Liv know about our past. It's not on any records, his name has been scratched off my birth certificate, the works. If he found out about my dad somehow, there's a connection between the two. Some meeting they had, although I don't know why he would tell Ultron about me." You debated, Laura agreeing as she found that it made sense. There was something going on there.

"So, what are the leads? If you find your mother, you could find out a little extra information?" She suggested as you nodded, knowing she was right.

"Give me a minute, I'll just go get the sheet." You told her as you ran upstairs. The question made sense, but the answer was nowhere to be found. You walked into your room to see Bruce sitting on your bed and instantly slowed. "Hey Bruce." You spoke quietly, a little fear piercing your heart. He looked up in shock from his phone and despair instantly caught you in the throat. What was going on?

11


End file.
